Intergalactic Love
The heavily armed man marched at the head of at least fifty equally heavily armed men and women who looked to be highly disciplined and even more dangerous. Even the women were over seven feet tall and well muscled. They all carried a variety of modern firearms, propellant types, laser and electro-magnetic, and a selection of swords, daggers, knives and various other items the woman watching did not recognise. She did, however, realise the group were a troop of soldiers of some sort, for, despite not being uniformed in any way she could perceive, they marched rather than walked. The small, barely noticeably pregnant woman who faced them also noticed they all looked friendly and well disposed towards her, and both the men and the women were all remarkably good looking. They all had long, very long, hair; many of the women’s hair fell below their waists, and most of the men had full beards and magnificent moustaches; none were clean shaven. Seeing the woman’s anxiety, a string of nonsense syllables came out of the leader’s mouth accompanied by an even wider smile than was on the faces of those behind him, if indeed that were possible. At the sight of her incomprehension he changed to Englic, but still to his surprise, she didn’t understand, though she realised he had spoken in a language different from the first and in something she realised she vaguely recognised as Englic. Finally he changed to Irish. “You have nothing to fear, My Lady. I spoke in my own tongue first, and then in Englic, which I am surprised you do not understand. You are Irish, are you not?”
Reluctantly Siobhan replied, “Yes, but I and my parents have lived much isolated from the centres of the Englic speakers. Our local mart is in an Irish speaking area and though my man speaks Englic we only visit the mart in the nearest Englic speaking area once a year, for it’s two days travel with the horses and cart and of much inconvenience with the children. My grandparents were all Irish speaking Irish, and though both my grandmothers had a passing familiarity with Englic both of my parents grew up speaking Irish in the house. I have never heard Englic spoken in common usage save at the mart, and other than that never at all since my marriage. Some of my cousins who were much older than I and who have now all passed had some familiarity with it, but none were fluent. My man is teaching the children Englic, but I have neither the inclination, nor the intention, to learn, for I have disliked intensely most of the Englic I have ever had the misfortune to have had dealings with.
“However, that has nothing to say concerning your invasion of my property, and misunderstand me not, it is my property, not my man’s, nor ours in common. Here by tradition women own the land and livestock and men their trades and crafts and all tools and materials associated with them too. The land you are standing on, the livestock you can see and most of the buildings are held in my and my daughters’ names. The law here states at their births my daughters and I share the title two shares to me and one to each of the girls. Only the workshops and their contents belong to my man and his sons shared in the same way. Having made that clear, I wish to know what you wish of me, and why are you here with an army? What have you to do with me, for I have nothing worth the taking to folk as finely dressed as you and your soldiers?”
“We are not here to take anything from you, My Lady. As to why we are here the answer is neither simple, nor will it be easy for you to understand, for it will sound fantastic to you, and I use the word fantastic in its proper sense. We have no direct connection to you, but the individual you are wife to and the mother of his heirs, who we understand has a two way loving relationship with you, is of great interest to us. We have been seeking that individual for millennia as you understand it. He is the heir to a trans galactic Empire, who went missing thousands of years ago, for reasons we entirely understand, and it is only recently we have determined where the heir was living. We would have been most desirous of reëstablishing contact with him under all and any circumstances. However, the Emperor has died tragically at the ridiculously young age of twelve thousand two hundred and seventy-four. Even uncrowned, your husband is now the Emperor, and by our laws and lore too he has automatically inherited control of the Empire till such time as he renounces the throne.” The man looked disturbed at even mentioning the possibility of renunciation of the throne. He clearly had no desire for that event to come to pass. “In addition his children by you, his first and only wife, are his heirs. We wish him to return home bringing you and your children to rule our empire, for he is the only person who will be acceptable as Emperor to the citizens of the Empire.” The man paused and added, “I am a loyal citizen of the empire, Lady, but I am not a servant of the Emperor. I am a servant of the Empress. Your servant, My Lady.” He bowed low and long before arising to face her with an earnest look on his face.
Despite his honest and sincere bearing Siobhan could not accept his words as anything else than a fantasy born out a deluded and disturbed mind. That all his troop were smiling and nodding in agreement with his words bothered her, but she’d heard that rapid strides had recently been made in mental manipulation, hypnosis some called it. Why she wondered would a hypnotised military band garbed so peculiarly have been sent to trouble her and hers by the government, for all taxes due had been paid long since. Taxes due on the land and it’s resources, the fish in the mere, the game on the land and the trees in the woodland had been paid in silver along with those due on her common law rights to the peat from the bog, her grazing on the mountain and the honey from the heather. The taxes payable in goods, the actual fish, game and timber harvested which were taxed as tithes had been paid in fish, game and timber, and her taxes due to her grazing had been paid in livestock.
As the woman whose name was on the deeds to the farm she was responsible for the taxes and her book keeping was of a high standard and was always up to date, so much so that her dealings with the local taxation official were most cordial, for he maintained her records made his life easy and as a result he ignored her man’s hunting as non taxable since Siobhan declared all fish caught despite those from the river being non taxable, unlike those from the mere. Neither knew who benefited most from the exchange, but both saved considerable amounts of time, and hence considered it a desirable conclusion to their negotiations. Whenever matters had arisen that she’d not been sure how to deal with she’d always contacted him immediately, and he’d invariably come up with a similar conclusion. Usually he’d suggested the matter was ignored or dealt with such that both their paperwork was minimised, if not non existent, and said he’d write a note on her records stating it was a legally binding understood arrangement twixt her and the authorities, just like her man’s hunting in return for the fish.
It was a troubled Siobhan who steeling herself, for her man was away hunting and she was worried concerning the safety of her family, replied, “My man and I are successful and hence wealthy holders of thirty-four acres of productive land with rights to cut peat, graze the mountain and put bees to the heather on it in the autumn, My man works hard. He feeds the ten of us well, and is well rewarded for his efforts both at the market and in his bed. Why would your nonsense tempt him to change his life even were your fantasies to be true? I love him, and I am a good wife in every sense, and I am not going to explain that any further, for it is a matter that is only to do with a man and his woman. I desire no more, even if as I said your fantasies were true, but I believe you not. I can not speak for my man, but I believe he would say the same. Please leave and trouble us no more with your lies. I may be Irish with strong connections to the Sidhe, but I don’t live in a færie tale, and I’m not Cinderella.”
The man, who like all the men in his troop was well framed and over seven and a half feet tall, looked troubled and in response said, “I’m no liar, and I do understand your incredulity. I know of the Cinderella tale, and I am not willing to contradict you in any particular, for you are my Empress. I am a lesser king of the Empire with distant connections to the Imperial family. It has been my most earnest desire for the last seven of your months to be your senior courtier, your closest confidant and advisor. Believe me, My Lady, that is all I could wish for. I have no desire to manipulate nor to control you. I merely wish to provide whatever it is you wish. State your desire and I shall do my best to make it come to be. I have watched you from a distance for months and your care for your family, your honesty, diligence and beauty, in that order, have captivated my loyalty to you. My family have for millennia proudly been in the service of the Imperial Consort, and I could wish for no more. I would willingly die for you knowing that would earn me a place amongst the highest regarded of my family.” He drew his short sword and said, “All you have to do is say that my death will serve you, and I will gladly so serve you, but then my son and heir would be here to trouble your peace in the same way that I seem to.”
“I wish the death of none on my conscience. I still don’t believe you, but given the trouble you are causing me at least you could give me your name.”
“I am Gellinya. Gellan Birchtree the Englic named me when we first came to the city seeking your man, but my name is Gellinya of the family Betula, which is a sept of the clan McAtreen. My Lady…, pray forgive me the over familiarity, for I am presuming on my family’s long association with your rank. I did not intend to so presume, but this is as difficult for me as I think it is for you. I was about to say, please tolerate me till your man returns when I hope all shall be explained.”
“You are very convincing, Gellinya O’Betula of clan McAtreen, and if that is your name I shall use it out of common courtesy, for that it is your preferred and natural given name. As to calling you Gellan Birchtree, that is yet another small reason to dislike the Englic, for I deem it a lack of courtesy to so miscall you. When my husband returns from his hunting either your truth will be evident, or he shall kill you for what you have said. I love him greatly, and his love for me, should you prove to be false, shall be your end, for he is a doughty man to oppose and of much greater physique than yourself.”
“You have my gratitude, My Lady. It shall be as I have said, and I have no fear of your man, for there is a true member of the Imperial family who will never deny the truth, which is the single biggest reason that he is the only acceptable Emperor to the commons. I may not be a servitor of the Imperial line, but I am a servitor of the Consort’s line, and as such I love you. I say this not as a matter of traditional obligation, but rather because in the short time we have had converse I have come to believe you to be one whom I should defend, love and care for as a person, for you are an Empress the like of which we have never been ruled by before and I believe that will be of great benefit to the Empire. That you are my family’s obligation to protect is almost a secondary obligation. Please forgive me that admission, My Lady. I meant no disrespect, for I already love you as tradition dictates the head of our clan must. My family, and more to the point my closest friends, would expect no less.”
Siobhan said in response, “Liar or truth teller I like you, Gellinya. Please, take tea and something to eat. Not just you, but your soldiers too. If my husband refutes your tale you shall all be free to go. That is because of your courtesy, which is a matter all women value in men. I believe you are sincere, and, whether what you say be true or not, your sincerity shall protect you from harm. Given a quarter of an hour I’ll fetch tea and freshly made scones out here, for you will not all fit into my kitchen. The fire is hot and scones are quickly made. Fifty or so of you I judge?”
“You are kind, My Lady. There are fifty-two of us.”
The man who approached was huge, over eight feet tall and massively framed and muscled. Over his wide shoulders was a large and heavy gralloched deer carcass. As he approached he casually shrugged the carcass to the close cropped sward at his feet and stared hard at the persons near his wife. Eventually his wary cautious look was replaced by a grin of surprise and he took his hand off the pommel stone of the large hunting knife that hung scabbarded from the belt slung just above his hip. A knife that in the hands of a smaller man would have been a sword of reasonable proportions. “Gellinya!” He shouted across the intervening space as the two men rushed to clasp forearms in a ritual greeting, “It’s been a long time. What is your business here?”
“Majesty, Her Majesty your mother sent me. Your father has died, and the Empire has no leader. I wouldn’t go so far as to say all is chaos, but there is certainly a degree of instability and uncertainty that only the crowning of a new Emperor will alleviate. Should that not happen soon the situation will deteriorate badly. An announcement that you are returning home without saying anything about the prospect of you accepting the throne one way or the other will have an immediate stabilising effect, for then the commons will be impossible for the power seekers to manipulate into a mob. It is the opinion and will of the folk, and I mean the commons not the aristocracy, that you should assume power. The folk understand why you left, and are happy to live with whatever conditions you impose to return. You always were their choice for the crown and whatever goes with that they are more than happy to accept, for you were always considerate of their lives.
“None of your siblings are willing to usurp the throne, for all say you are by far the best suited to reign and they maintain since you are the eldest it is your duty to accept the crown. They are all prepared to offer whatever support they are capable of to assist you as Emperor, and they are supported by all of your close kin, though some of your distant cousins,” there was a moue of distaste on Gellinya’s face indicating he had something disgusting in his mouth like a fly as he said the word cousins, “are desperately seeking allies to aid them to take whatever power they can scratch together. I’ve currently put six of them incommunicado under lock and key. All in separate rooms in the palace with every comfort of course. It’s just they can’t leave, nor have dealings with other than the servants, who by a strange coincidence all happen to be members of my personal militia. I should perhaps add that the order to hold them incommunicado was signed by the Dowager Empress herself and that only I and my senior staff are aware of the matter. In truth only you are acceptable to the folk and should any else be crowned there will be civil war. You are the best and only viable choice, and your father said so as he lay adying.”
“I shall need to consult with my wife. If she says nay, then you needst look for another Emperor. I am not prepared to sacrifice my marriage, my children and my life for something that matters so little to me. Do not try to negotiate. The matter is up to Siobhan, and I shall kill any who approaches her in an attempt to make her mind up in your favour. Do you understand?”
“Yes, Your Majesty, but I would remind you of my obligations to the Empress. If they cause my death so be it, but I shall not default on those obligations.”
“I understand, Gellinya. Certainly I could not hold you to blame for honouring the sworn oaths your family have held sacred for millennia.”
“I am grateful for your understanding and forbearance, Your Majesty.”
“I owe you an apology, Gellinya, for that I doubted your word.”
“It is nothing, My Lady.”
“Will you enter the house and be available for explanation to both my husband and myself?”
“Certainly, My Lady.”
“How do you think of the matter, My Love?”
Siobhan took her time to reply and she answered with a question of her own, “First tell me, Ingemar, why did you leave home and come to this place?”
“There was an endless procession of princesses, duchesses and the like paraded in front of me, and I was subject to considerable pressure to marry one of them. I wasn’t ready to marry, so I warned my parents if it didn’t stop I would leave. It didn’t, so I left. I lived in places where I knew it would be unlikely any would recognise me, and I never stayed long in one place. Eventually I came here and met you. We chose to share our lives and married, and you know the rest. I have never regretted it.”
“Why haven’t you told me about this before?”
“To start with I wasn’t sure you’d believe me. I was frightened you’d think you were walking out with a madman and I’d then lose you. Then we married, the children came along and I hardly ever thought about it. When I did it didn’t seem to matter any more. We lived well from the farm, and I was content with life. I still am.”
“Is your mother still alive?”
Her husband looked at Gellinya with raised eyebrows. He immediately replied, “Her Majesty is in excellent health. It was she who instructed me to inform your husband of events. She also instructed me that I was to offer my services to you as she was no longer an Emperor’s wife but an Emperor’s widow.”
“Ingemar, how old are you?”
“Three thousand six hundred and forty-four as years are counted here.”
“I am thirty, so what comes to me when I am an old woman and you still look like a man in his middle thirties, for you have not aged since I met you.”
“Gellinya, please explain to Siobhan.”
“My Lady, our medicine is a long way in front of what you are aware of. We can halt ageing, and even reverse it too. There is no need for you to ever be old.”
“How did my father in law die?”
Gellinya winced to hear the late Emperor referred to thus, but he replied, “A hunting accident. He fell from his horse which fell on him crushing his internal organs. It was not instant death, and medical help was not available in time. He instructed his retainers that your husband was his heir, My Lady. Though the accident happened in the field, his dying words were properly witnessed beyond any legal challenge.”
“We have a good life here, and the intrusion of many strangers into our household would make me unhappy. I know how children of the wealthy and mighty are reared, and I will neither hand my children nor the ordering of my life into the care of others. I was a farmer’s daughter before becoming a farmer’s wife. I am not an Empress and shall certainly be more at home in a dairy or a kitchen than a throne room or a ball room. I have no intention of changing that. You would be a powerful and wealthy man, Ingemar, and either could make us unhappy. You know I love you whoever you are, but if I agree to move what happens if I or the children are unhappy there? Could we return? Could you return, and then be happy?”
“Certainly we could return, and yes I would be happy if that happened, for everything and everyone who matters to me would be here.”
Gellinya nervously asked, “If I may make a suggestion, My Lady? Majesty?”
Ingemar waited and Siobhan answered, “Please do.”
“I could have some architects and builders make a perfect copy of the house and everything else here and replicate it in a similar setting to be available for you for whatever purpose you required. If you so desired they could make any alterations you required too. All your possessions, and livestock too, could go with you, and you could have as much land as you wanted. If you tell me what of the land and its environs are important, by that I mean the forest and the nature of its trees, the river and mere and the nature of the fish they host. You have already mentioned the peat and the heather for your bees, and I can surely have all such made available to you. Too, in the event that any resources are at some distance, for there is no peat close by to the palace and heather for your bees would be half a day’s travel, I can have what ever help you require made available. If necessary I can have a farmstead built so that you could manage both matters yourself.”
Siobhan nodded and said, “I’ll let you know my answer tomorrow afternoon. Before I do, I’ll have a lot more questions to ask in the morning, and I need to know a lot more about how Ingemar feels about the matter. Where will you and your men stay tonight, Gellinya?”
“We can set up camp in one of your fields, if that is acceptable to you, My Lady? We have all the rations we require, and we would not be a burden to you.”
“Certainly.”
On their own after having put the children to bed conversation resumed. “Ingemar, I feel more inclined to say yes than no, but not greatly so. I as you know have no family alive now other than the children. This area is changing. There are more folk moving this way from the cities and most are Englic. I like not their customs and social usages, and it would suit me better for the rearing of the children to be elsewhere. You have always seemed to me to be more Irish than the Irish. You know it’s why I fell in love with you. Are your folk like that too? For I should be more inclined to go if that were to be the case.
“Indeed. The entire empire is of Celtic style tradition. None know where we originated, but we know it was from far away. It’s indeed possible that we came from this part of the universe, perhaps indirectly, but yes, our folk are like folk hereabouts rather than Englic. Which is not to say all are likeable. We probably have about the same proportion of unlikeable and even obnoxious folk that there is here amongst our neighbours, which is to say not many, but like here the unpleasant exert a disproportionate influence on life.”
Siobhan nodded and smiled in understanding, for she trusted her man and he was painting a realistic picture she could relate to. At the worst it would be no worse than her present life, and if the current trend of folk whose culture she neither liked nor understood moving out of the cities to inflict themselves on her very different rural culture and lifestyle continued moving had to be an improvement. Perhaps she pondered it was time to move, for the children’s sake if nothing else. Her train of thought shifted and she asked, “Do you get on with your family?”
“Yes, but I didn’t like the constant pressure to marry. I wasn’t ready, and I resented being presented as a piece of prize bloodstock. The reason for me leaving isn’t there now since I already have a wife and family. I admit I would like to see Mother and my family, but that doesn’t mean I have to accept the crown. My father worked more hours than a hill farmer, and I wouldn’t be prepared to do that, for I wish to have time to spend with you and the children. I should not be prepared to give story telling time and music time to work. The children need to spend time with their father, and I need time in which to be a father, and a husband too. You have always said you desire a dozen children and that has always made me happy, but I see little point in having a family of any size, least of all a dozen or more, if I have not the time to enjoy being their father.”
“Would you like to take the crown if it can be done without destroying our family? If you could have to time to teach the children music and to tell bedtime stories and play too.”
“Probably, yes. I grew up expecting to take the crown, and that was no part of why I left, but as a husband and father I now have demands on my time that I never imagined back then and those demands have to be met.”
Siobhan was aware how important his time with the children was to Ingemar. He was an accomplished player of what he referred to as the pipes Celtoch which she knew as the Uilleann pipes, and the children all derived considerable pleasure and achievement from learning to play too. Her man made his own instruments and enjoyed teaching his children to make their own too, a skill her children delighted in learning and she was not going to allow that pleasure to be taken away from either her man or her children. For the children working with their father was no more working than helping her in the kitchen and it was important to them all as a family. It was something that she was not prepared to sacrifice at any price.
The couple talked for hours, and had more or less decided to assume power when Siobhan asked, “Should I accept Gellinya’s offer of service, for it seems most unnatural to me?”
“I should say yes. He is the ruler of a highly productive agricultural planet, which his family manage. They have farmed there for millennia, and virtually the entire population is a member of his extended family or married to one. He is a professional diplomat and a highly skilled one. He personally conducts all trade negotiations on behalf of his family which has made them all exceedingly wealthy. His family have supplied the chief courtier to the Consort as well as having provided the Consort’s security militia for over a hundred millennia, and my mother likes him. He served her well for a long time. His family is distant kin to mine, and Mother regards him as a nephew rather than a servitor. He is possibly the only one who she can guarantee to tell her the truth rather than what they think she wishes to hear, even when she doesn’t like it, actually especially when she doesn’t like it.
“He told me you were related.”
Siobhan insisted that she would not live in the Imperial palace and would wait till her farmhouse and its buildings had been reproduced for her. There were huge logistical problems with that, but Gellinya produced a diplomatic solution. “I suggest, Lady, that you make an inspection of one of the larger troop ships. If that would be acceptable to you as a temporary home whilst the architects and surveyors measure up your farm, we could redeploy as many of the troops as necessary onto other vessels and take all your chattels and livestock on to the troop ship. Only when your new farm has been finished and is ready for you to take possession of do you move out of the troop ship. That way the work of the architects and surveyors is simplified because the buildings here will all be empty and thus easier to measure and take images of. You will not have to enter the palace till you are ready, and you have a home to go to when some one in the palace angers you. Trust me that will happen. When it does, or if you are treated with the slightest degree of disrespect, if you speak to me about the incident I shall resolve it for you.” The last statement was said with a flinty implacability that Siobhan considered boded ill for any who angered her, and it caused her to remember Gellinya was a king in his own right.
“What of my bees. They are gentle and I should be loth to leave them.”
“We have bees aboard many ships, Lady. The larger ships have huge gardens where fresh produce is grown. They also serve as a major part of the air purification and rejuvenation system. Large troop transporters have anything up to a gross of hive for pollination purposes. Your bees would be no more difficult to transport to their new come than any of your other livestock.”
Siobhan’s visit to the troop ship was an interesting and pleasant experience for her and a welcome and exciting one for the crew who were eager to see their Empress about whom rumours abounded but very little fact was known for certain. The one who without any knowing had been the the ultimate object of a millennia long search that had covered all of inhabited space. Gellinya had chosen the Void Shrinker, the fleet flagship captained by Admiral Aoibh Flint who was also three going on four months pregnant and the two women got on well. Their shared complaints of aching feet were to prove the basis of a lasting friendship. Gellinya had explained in advance the real reason behind the visit, and Aoibh had eventually asked Siobhan, “Will the Shrinker provide you with what you need till we make planet fall and you move into your farm house, Lady Siobhan?”
“Indeed yes, but my name is Siobhan not Lady Siobhan.”
The admiral glanced at Gellinya who nodded and said, “The Empress is different, not least in that she always says exactly what she means.”
Aoibh hesitated before asking, “What live stock have we to accommodate and how much storage space shall we have to set aside. I ask, La— Siobhan, that the bosun will know how many of the crew need redeploying. Too, I have dozens, possibly hundreds, of crew members from farming families who will be only too glad to look after your live stock. So many doubtless the bosun will probably have to draw up a rota, for they will regard it as welcome recreation. Too, will we be taking on board enough feed for the stock to last three or four months? If not we’ll order some delivered via a resupply barque. If you have any concerns at all voice them to Lord Gellinya, and he’ll make appropriate arrangements for you. Now, would you like to take tea with me and take the weight off your feet?”
“I would thank you, Aoibh, but before drinking any tea I have—”
“Quite. We’ll join Lord Gellinya in my quarters in a little while, but we’ll go there via the senior women officers’ relaxation area. On a ship this size it’s much more than a wardroom.”
“Recreational areas are segregated by sex as well as rank?”
“Yes and no. There are women’s areas, men’s areas and mixed areas. Which any individual chooses to use is up to them, provided of course they don’t use one specifically designated for the other sex. They are segregated by rank into six different areas. We’ve tried various arrangements over the years and though not set in stone this arrangement seems to work. Men are thus able to tell dirty stories without risk of being overheard and taken to task for being men. Any woman who is offended by that has no redress because she shouldn’t have been there to hear it. Too women are thus able to talk female matters in privacy without risk of embarrassment. As of the most recent report on the matter one hundred and forty six of the crew are pregnant, so there is a real need. Like I said, it seems to work though the entire crew are free to make suggestions whenever they choose, and they are balloted periodically concerning their satisfaction with the arrangements current at the time. The current arrangement has remained in place without change for at least twenty years.”
After their visit to the senior women officers’ relaxation area rest rooms. Siobhan was introduced to a number of women who were as interested in her pregnancy as in her status. On their way out, Aoibh smiled and said, “Like I said, it seems to work. I doubt you’d have been easy having that conversation in mixed company.”
“With Ingemar yes, with any other man present definitely not.”
“Our senior OG [US Ob/Gyn] medical officer and all her team are women. Not strictly necessary I know, but this is a long haul vessel with a disproportionately large number of couples in the crew which is why we have to have a school. Many of the crew do five year tours, and a good few have been aboard for in excess of fifty, the ship is their home, so I always insist on female specialists in female matters and male specialists in male matters. They are always available, so why not? The morale officers suspect it makes little difference, but do agree with me that the option is worth having. I was married aboard ship eighty-four years ago and my man and I have never lived anywhere else. Sean is a military scientist involved in developing our weaponry and our propulsion system. His company of elite academics and engineers maintain every last nut, bolt and fastening of the entire fleet not just the Shrinker.” She laught and said, “He has been asked any number of times what is it like to be of lower rank than his wife and though I know he would never slight me in any way his replies are always along the lines that he would never trade his superior brain for the hollow possession of a uniform deemed to be prettier because it has a touch more braid on it. Which is an ironic reply really because I am sure there is none aboard any vessel of the fleet, including me, who has ever seen him in uniform. Come to that none of his company will ever have been seen in uniform and that is as it should be, for folk that intelligent and highly educated should never be perceived as marines. They are far too rare and precious to be thought of thus. Mind their laboratory coats and one piece coveralls could be construed to be their uniform, for they command instant respect and obedience from every other member of the crews.” All of which gave Siobhan a lot to think about.
Back in Aoibh’s quarters they met up with Gellinya who asked, “Lady, does the idea of you and your family living aboard for a while meet with your approval?”
“Yes. Everyone has been very pleasant from the admiral here to the crew who opened doors for me. I should have no problem living here for three or four months. I am convinced my animals will be properly cared for and there will be enough space for my children to play in. As long as Ingemar agrees, so shall I.”
Siobhan noticed a speaking look pass between Gellinya and Aoibh and said, “Tell me what that look was about please.”
Aoibh looked away, and Gellinya eventually said, “This ship is a large military establishment, crewed entirely by military personnel. It has as many crew as the population of a reasonable sized town. The combined crews of the fleet amount to the population of a very large city. Their loyalty to their professions, the navy and to the Imperial family and hence to you is a matter of pride to them all. Civilians see things differently, especially the aristocracy. It is there that you will meet opposition and incivility. It would be well not to expect the level of consideration and approval, and even civility, from them that the crew here affords you. However, whenever such occurs speak to me about it, and I shall resolve the matter for you.”
Aoibh smiled and said, “Lord Gellinya is a diplomat, but diplomacy is not the only weapon in his arsenal, and he is highly skilled with everything at his disposal.”
“Thank you, Your Grace.”
Siobhan asked, “You are a duchess, Aoibh?”
“No. My grandmother is, and after my mother I am her heir. With us it is usual for heirs apparent, though not for heirs presumptive, to be addressed by the title they will one day have. If I have to use a title I prefer Admiral because at least I worked for that. However, Lady, back to business if you have no objection?” It took a second or two for Siobhan to realise her permission was being sought. When she nodded the admiral continued, “Assuming his Majesty agrees, when do you think it likely you will wish to have your family, animals and chattels aboard?”
“What is at stake here, Aoibh, and it’s Siobhan not Lady.”
“Assuming his Majesty agrees and Lord Gellinya and Senior Bosun Davies take twenty-four hours to establish how much space we need for your animals and chattels, I would prefer five days in which to redeploy crew and for the remaining crew to ready all for your arrival.”
“I’m almost certain Ingemar will agree, so let us say a week? It that good? Obviously I don’t wish to live in an empty shell of a farm house with all my possessions on board, so they must all be moved after my family arrive.”
“That will be fine. I know you are not prepared to hand over care of your children to any else,” Aoibh looked at Gellinya before continuing, “but when the crew bring your chattels aboard you will probably wish to see to their disposition yourself. I have some crew members who would be delighted to entertain and see to the safety of your children. Not to usurp your place as their mother, rather to act as baby sitters and mothers’ helpers. It would be a purely temporary arrangement. I hope my suggestion doesn’t cause any offence, for such was not my intent.”
Siobhan looked Aoibh in the face with a penetrating gaze for several seconds before saying, “I took no offence, but I shall wish to meet with such crew members before agreeing to anything. If you like we can do that now before I return home.”
A relieved Aoibh breathed a sigh of relief, for she had seen steel in Siobhan’s eyes, a depth of character and resolve she had not suspected Siobhan possessed, and she determined she would be very careful in her dealings with the Empress who, despite her politeness and dislike of formality and protocol, for a brief moment had the look of one of her most battle hardened marines about to essay the field of battle. Gellinya said, “Let us take a tour of the ship, Lady, whilst the Admiral arranges the meeting. Admiral, would you be so kind as to arrange an escort for us?”
“Certainly, My Lord.”
Gellinya took the opportunity on their tour to say to Siobhan, “Lady, please don’t frighten Admiral Flint like that again. You terrified her with that gaze. Yes I know you were only thinking of the well being of your children, but she is not your enemy. Quite the reverse, she is your friend, and you will need friends like her. She is a distant relative of mine and I have known her for decades. Save your ire for those who deserve it, and there will be many of them. As to her crew, your children will be completely safe with every one of them, but doubtless the ones she will hand pick to look after your children will be her most proficient killers, story tellers and players of children’s games. Accomplished baby sitters with serious teeth to protect your little ones, and they will consider it to be an honour, and doubtless boast of it in their relaxation areas to their less fortunate peers. There is nowhere in the Empire where your children will be safer than on board a naval vessel of this size. Ask the Emperor, he will confirm that.”
“I was a little unnerved by her offer. I too was frightened. I’ll make amends and apologise later.”
“Thank you, Lady. If I may offer a word of advice?” Siobhan nodded. “Learn to pick your battles. Ask me for advice. It is after all what you pay me for.”
“I’m paying you?”
“Naturally, and staff with the range of skills and contacts that I possess don’t come cheap. Seriously, Lady, all my expenses are covered by the royal purse which includes paying for some one to do my work at home. Your chancellor and his or her office handles all the expenses associated with the Consort. I don’t even present a demand. I don’t know how it is done, but my accountants at home tell me all is in order, for even with no Empress the Consort’s office has to be maintained ready to function at no notice at all.”
“He or she? You don’t know who it is?”
“Not yet, for there is no one in post at the moment. The office of Consort’s chancellor has been operating with a skeleton staff, but doubtless a chancellor has already been appointed and a full staff engaged. We shall be notified as to events in the mail on the next resupply barque, for it will not be considered wise to transmit information of that nature by spacial relay. Should you wish a different chancellor or to change any of the staff that is your decision to make. However, we are here at the meeting room. Is there anything you wish to know before we enter?”
“Nothing I can think of.” As they entered the room Siobhan thanked their escort and turned to see a group of nine men and nine women. All were in full dress uniform, and all had an impressive array of medals and ribands on their chest. As she turned all bowed or curtseyed deeply for the time prescribed for imperial royalty. “I do not wish to be bowed to or curtseyed to again. My name is Siobhan. I expect you to use it. Gellinya refuses to do so and insists on calling me Lady which I don’t like, but it’s just about tolerable. Please be seated. I notice an impressive number of ribands and medals on your uniforms. Would I be correct in assuming they are decorations for valour in battle?”
One of the women replied, “Yes, Lady.”
The tiny woman who was no bigger than Siobhan was asked, “What is your name and your usual rôle aboard ship?”
“I’m marine sergeant Penelope McDower, and I am the senior combat instructor aboard the Void Shrinker, Lady. If I may make so bold, at home I have three children. They live with my man and his family who are farmers of grain and cattle.”
One by one Siobhan chatted with all eighteen of the highly trained and proficient killing machines who all had children. The admiral had clearly chosen them with care, for all impressed her as parents, as human beings. All were proud to admit to singing lullabies, reciting nursery rhymes, telling stories and playing children’s games. Angus McIver, a colossus of a drill sergeant of over nine feet in height, admitted he had not played a game of football [US soccer] with his sons for six months and he missed it, but he’d added he’d be home in another six months where he’d be for two years before returning to his unit.
Eventually Siobhan said, “Yes, I’m in agreement with the admiral. You may babysit my children, all of you. However, I have a condition. You are all military personnel and rightly proud of that. I am not, and I don’t want there to be any glorification of war anywhere near my children. I’ll be honest ladies and gentlemen I see war as the last resort of the incompetent political classes. For no dispute has ever been settled on a field of battle. Ultimately it always comes back to the negotiating table to settle the issue. Why it has never occurred to the politicians to negotiate before possibly millions die for the politicians’ principles is the hallmark of their stupidity.” There were huge grins of agreement from all in the room. Siobhan was not the only one there of her opinion, for to most military personnel a battle avoided was a battle won by both sides. “What this means in practice is those pretty dress uniforms of yours have to go. I don’t want my children to see them. When with my family you wear civilian clothes. Ladies that means skirt and blouse or a dress, no trousers. It means modesty, for I want no overt display of femininity to unnaturally advance the development of my sons. Gentlemen smart casual wear, and likewise no over tight clothing to give my daughters to ask questions they are not yet old enough to be needing answers to. Any questions?”
One of the men hesitantly asked, “Lady, three of us come from a part of the Empire where normal attire for men is the kilts. Would that be acceptable? It is frowned upon in the so called more civilised parts of the Empire where many regard us as no more than primitive savages. We would be more than grateful for your approval, and it would make our kinsfolk not just think the better of you but love you too for your support of what is a major part of our culture.”
“You all seem very civilised to me. Of course it is acceptable. If that is what you are comfortable with you are welcome to say you dress thus at my order, for I am more than able to discern those who will no harm to me nor to mine. Normally I do not tell those I know not well that my family has relationships with the Sidhe going back many generations, and in every generation there are some of us who have the sight. I am one who has the sight, and I see that you intend to protect my children. For that alone you have not just what protection I can offer, but my love as well. You all know nothing is decided yet, for I have to talk to my husband about all of this, but the matter will be decided and my decision relayed to you all before I go to bed tonight. Thank you for your time and much more for your care. Perhaps I shall meet with you again soon. I hope I shall and I look forward to it.”
The transfer of her animals and all associated with them was accomplished first, followed the day after by Siobhan and her family. She introduced her children to their platoon of baby sitters and was amazed at how quickly her children came to care for them. Their care for her children was she initially regarded as a matter of obligation, but as a consequence of her children’s mutual relationships with their protectors she came to realise there was love involved too. Ingemar ordered the guards to the royal suite that the ‘children’s friends’ were to have automatic right of access to the suite. He explained to the admiral that he’d had to do that because his children’s complaints that they had to wait to go out to play with their guardians till the guards had officially checked the passes were more than he could explain to them without incurring their wrath. Long after it was no longer necessary, the eighteen guardians were still guarding, or more to the point playing with, the children.
It took Siobhan three days with the help of the Void Shrinker’s crew to settle her animals into their newly reproduced quarters. The crew moved all her furniture and packing crates in another three and helped her to organise things to her satisfaction. She was glad of the help for she was seven months pregnant and bigger and more in need of help than she’d ever been before. The final move was her children which only took a couple of hours and it was with regret and tears the children and their protectors said goodbye when the children made planet fall. Ingemar was heavily involved in negotiations with the court concerning his coronation and the rôle Siobhan would play in the future. The negotiations were not going well, and for days he came home tired and dispirited. Eventually he came to believe he’d uprooted his family and dragged them across the settled universe for nothing and that he would soon be dragging them back again.
Siobhan was worried, mostly for Ingemar, but Gellinya kept telling her, “Lady, all will be fine eventually. This is one your husband has to realise he can not win, but you can win it for your entire family without his help. I shall help, I know all the different peoples of the Empire. I know how you can handle them all, but the time is not ready yet. Give it another month or at most a month and a half and you will have them in the palm of your hand.
“Remember what I said, Lady. Learn to pick your battles, and save your ire for those who deserve it. You have more friends than you know, some are noble, but you are already highly thought of by the commons, and therein shall lie your power and influence. You have a greater strength of character than any who would pull you and the Emperor down. Save it till the time is right. Let your enemies’ doubts fester and begin to destroy them from within. Only when they are rotten with self doubt and fear do you deliver the final crushing blow, for though an unripe apple is hard and impossible to crush in your hand, a rotten one can be squeezed out from between your fingers. Too, there will come a time when you and the dowager Empress shall become close. She will become your mother in truth, and she is a formidable woman, but the time is not right yet. Be patient, My Lady. Support the Emperor, for he needs your love and care more than either of you know.”
“Gellinya, I can’t quite make my mind up whether you are the wisest man or the biggest charlatan in the Empire.”
“Probably a bit of both, Lady. Oh by the way that bull calf you wished to sell. I’ve sold it for you for fifteen hundred imperials which I believe is more than twice the sum you were prepared to settle for.”
“Now I know not only are you a charlatan, you are a conman and a thief too.”
“I plead guilty on all counts, Lady. However, I know where I can obtain half a dozen quality Highland heifers for you for a knock down price if you are interested?”
“Of course I’m interested, I told you I wanted some good heifers, but what’s your commission on the deal?”
“Lady, I’m shocked. All I get out of it is the favour the breeder owes me for him being able to say he sold the Empress six heifers, and since you are already known to have a most discerning eye for quality stock, that will enable him to charge more for his calves in future. Which favour will believe me eventually be worth more than any commission.”
Siobhan laught and said, “You should be locked up, Gellinya.”
Gellinya had a boyish grin on his face as he said, “The dowager Empress has said that many times, Lady.”
Gellinya had been correct. There had been many of the aristocracy who’d tried to belittle Siobhan for her agrarian background, but her refusal to leave her heavily guarded farmstead had kept her detractors at bay. The guards were troops loyal to the office of the Emperor and they had killed a few who broken through the perimeter guards. However, the court was becoming increasingly vociferous and antagonistic to the Emperor. “When will we know how to deal with this, Gellinya?” Siobhan had asked.
“When one of them does something so stupid we can use it to crush them all in one fell swoop. I don’t know when it will happen or what it will be, but it will happen, Lady. Patience. That they are getting noisy and publicly attacking the Emperor indicates they are getting nervous. Let the rot spread a bit more. Patience.”
Eventually Ingemar gave way to some pressure and agreed that a spokesman for the court could talk to Siobhan. That afternoon Siobhan’s sons had gone fishing with some of the guard and she was baking with her girls when Garbred the Duke of Mayminster arrived. Garbred was the appointed spokesman and he was a not overly intelligent, arrogant man who was not only full of himself but over loud with it. That was how he had managed to have himself appointed the spokesman of the court. He arrived unannounced hoping to surprise and frighten the Empress whom he contemptuously referred to as ‘that damned milkmaid’. He entered the house and seeing Brigid, Siobhan’s eldest daughter who was nine, he shouted at her “Where is the Empress? Bring her here immediately.” Brigid was terrified, didn’t know who the Empress was, and couldn’t move let alone respond. Garbred was a bully who treated his servants badly and their children even worse. Brigid and her sisters had been helping their mother, and like them she too was wearing a kitchen apron. Presuming her to be a young servant Garbred grabbed hold of her and started to shake her violently screaming in her face, “Where is your mistress?” It was the last thing he ever did, for Siobhan hearing the shouting arrived running. Seeing events Siobhan hit him on the side of the head with the nearest thing to hand which happened to be the heavy marble pastry pin she had been carrying. The pin was a cylinder with squared off ends and because Garbred was so much taller than Siobhan she reached up to hit him and the edge of the pin caught his temple crushing his skull. Garbred was dead before he hit the floor.
Siobhan calmly helped Brigid back into the kitchen, sat her down on a chair and said, “All will be well, Sweetheart. Don’t worry about that horrible man. The guards will make him go away. I’ll be back in a moment. Girls, drink your milk and try the biscuits [US cookies].” Siobhan making no fuss went outside and asked the nearest of the guards if he would ask Lord Gellinya to attend her at his convenience.
When Gellinya arrived barely a quarter hour had passed. When she explained events Siobhan was startled by the huge grin on his face. “Excellent. Had I been here I would have run him through for being the treasonous dog that he was, but this is much better. A pastry pin! Wonderful! How is Princess Brigid, Lady?”
“Upset at being shouted at and shaken. She doesn’t realise the man is dead, and I’m not going to tell her. Do you know who he is and why he came here, Gellinya?”
“That dead gentleman lying on your floor is the remains of Garbred the late Duke of Mayminster. He came here to meet with you and bully or manipulate you into conforming with the desires of the court.”
“He may well have been a duke, but he was certainly no gentleman, Gellinya.”
“May I repeat that remark, Lady, for it will not redound to his credit that you said it?” Siobhan nodded her agreement. “His shouting bullied the court into accepting him as the spokesman who was to have tried to reason with you. He was unusually stupid and no respecter of persons. He looks better now than I have ever seen him, and at least he’s quieter which is a considerable improvement. I think I’ll repeat that too. I expect he’d have shouted at and tried to bully you too. However, he has had a taste of your reasonableness which is a most satisfactory outcome, for there is not a single citizen of the Empire who will think any ill of a mother killing to protect her children. It is what is expected, demanded even, of a good mother. You have set a good example for mothers not just of today but for generations of mothers yet to be born too. If I may I’ll replace your pastry pin and have this one exhibited in the Imperial museum, for all to see. I’ll moot it about that Garbred is going to be tried posthumously for treason. I’ll set that in motion to back off his relatives, for that could remove the title and the lands from his family.
“You are clearly disturbed by what you have been forced to do. Trust me there shall be no consequences from this that will affect you in any way other than well. I suggest you settle Brigid, put the kettle on and make tea, enough for all the guards too. That should calm your nerves and put the guards on your side in their telling of events. A gift of a few of those delicious smelling biscuits would work wonders too, My Lady. Telling the guards they were made by Crown Princess Brigid and her sisters would be a good move too. I’ll have a couple of guards in here to remove Garbred, and I’ll ask them why the Empress had to defend herself and her children with a pastry pin from a vicious attack when the house was surrounded by guards. Their feeling of failure will without doubt protect you from censure.
“Worry not, for I’ll not do anything to the guards. It’s really not their fault, for Garbred had a pass signed by the Emperor. All I want is them to spread the tale that the Empress, who as all know is a tiny woman far advanced into her pregnancy, was forced into killing with a pastry pin a fully grown man nigh on eight feet tall who attacked one of her children and a little girl at that who at the time was baking biscuits. This is the event we have been waiting for, Lady. Garbred will become a laughing stock, and all who have associated with him will become so too. That they were prepared to attack a little girl, the Crown Princess of the Empire no less, will take all wavering political opinion away from them, for none will wish to be considered in that light. I’ll give the tale twenty-four hours to spread and grow in the way such things do, with a few judicious helpings of misinformation from some of my staff in popular hostelries this evening of course. The tales will be further enhanced by the influence of the alcohol. Then I’ll talk to the Emperor, and we strike. I’ll advise him to speak to the populace and advise him on what to say. It’ll all be over in forty-eight hours.
“Trust me, Lady. Now please, I can see you are shaking a little, so calm your nerves by settling Brigid and by making that tea before you send your girls out to offer the guards tea and biscuits. Make sure the youngest help too, for the image in their minds of tiny Princesses of the Empire being attacked by Garbred with his faction’s approval will not sit well with them and their telling of the tale will reflect that.” Gellinya approached Siobhan and she reached for him to hug her. He did and said, “It will all be fine, Lady. You have done something that probably in your worst nightmares you never imagined having to do, but I and mine shall deal with all for you. All you have to do is care for your children, who if you don’t go to them soon will be in here looking for you and asking questions as to why there is a dead man on the floor. Leave the rest to me and my staff. None will cause you any problems.”
“You’re very good at this aren’t you, Gellinya?”
“Oh yes, Lady. There’s nothing like the sweet stench of corruption well seasoned with a reek of treason to keep a man on his toes. It’s delightful pitting one’s wits against against those who would harm the Empire.” Gellinya considered briefly and said modestly, “I’m the best, Lady, and that piece of offal lying there wasn’t even a challenge worth bothering with. Please, do you go and make that tea, for it will settle your nerves. I’ll have the remains of the late duke removed and taken to his family straightforth. Doubtless his eldest son, who is even stupider and more obnoxious than his father, will be thrilled to hear the news that he is now the duke, and a stupid enemy is a gift from the gods.” As he left Siobhan could see a feral look on her advisor’s face as he contemplated how best to use the recent events to promote her interests. That was when she realised just how fortunate she and her children were in their new situation to have Gellinya and his folk as their protectors.
“I am your Emperor apparent, Ingemar the twenty-sixth. Whether I remain so, and whether I accept the crown lies in the relationship you the folk establish with my wife. If you do not accept her as Empress on her terms I have no interest in being Emperor on any terms, and I, my wife and our children shall leave the Empire to return to our farm at the far side of many galaxies where we have lived happily for many years and shall be content to live out the remainder of our years. We are both aware if we leave the Empire shall fall into civil war. That will be your problem not ours. I will not allow the peoples of the Empire to hold that the destruction of my family’s peace of mind is a fair price to avoid them destroying their own peace. If you wish to engage in civil war so be it, just get on with it, but don’t even consider involving me and mine in the matter. My wife who is close to giving birth to our next daughter has already killed a grown man with her pastry pin for attacking one of our daughters. No more. That has to stop right now, or we shall go without a backward glance. I don’t care enough about the Empire to risk the lives of my wife and children. Now I suggest you listen closely to the words of the mother of my children, for she shall determine whether we leave or not. You may consider me to be your Emperor, but she is my Empress, whether we rule here or not.”
The gorgeously pretty, small, less than five foot tall, woman of willowy bone structure with a generous bosom that may or may not have been due to her advanced pregnancy came to the front of the stage set up for the televised dissemination of the event surrounded by her eight children. She was pale skinned, with freckles and had glorious deep red hair and luminescent green eyes. She was the embodiment of femininity to her audience, and her children and pregnancy provided further enhancement of that. Her contralto voice, slightly lower than her audience considered typical, commanded their attention. Her words mesmerised and terrified them.
“I am Siobhan wife of Ingemar and the mother of his children. In the short time I have been here I have been told a lot concerning the customs and traditions of the Empire. I have also been told I shall be expected to follow those customs in the minutest detail. Let me be quite clear about this. I have no interest in the customs and traditions of your damned Empire where apparently it is considered acceptable to make war on little girls who are considered to be no more than political pawns. That is as may be, but you are not doing so with my little girls or my little boys either.” The anger and contempt could be seen to be pouring out of her voice and many of her audience were ashamed that an expectant mother and this mother in particular had travelled so far to be treated so shamefully.
“If you wish me as your Empress I shall be the only voice that determines the customs and traditions of the Empire relating to the Consort, and you shall consign all previous traditions to the waste bin of history, for I have no intention of treating them with any respect whatsoever. It’s my terms, or you can do whatever you wish without me and my family. I am not prepared to hand over the rearing of my children to anyone, nor am I handing my life over to courtiers to fill my every waking moment with events I consider to be pointless, so that they can give me absolute power and no time in which to exercise any of it. I shall expect to be addressed as Siobhan and not by some title I consider to be a worthless adornment to those who are so lacking in personality they need it to bolster their self esteem. I like to dance, but even more do I like to cook and to work in my dairy and on my farm. That has been my life, and I am not going to change that for anyone. Garbred, the imbecile I killed with my pastry pin to protect my daughter from his attack contemptuously referred to me as ‘that damned milkmaid’. He may well have been a duke, but he was no gentleman, and now he’s a dead duke and I’m a living milkmaid. Lord Gellinya on seeing him dead on the floor in my house said he’d never looked better and that finally they could have a rational conversation.” An uneasy quiet laughter could be heard everywhere her speech was being relayed to. “There is nothing contemptible about being a milkmaid. In my eyes it’s a title of far greater worth than is being a duchess or an empress too come to that. I’ll gladly wear the title milkmaid. If you accept me on my terms, my husband like any other man will have his life ruled by the woman he shares a bed with: me, and no other.”
The cold implacable voice continued remorselessly outlining her conditions that would have to be met if the populace wished her to stay. “I do not particularly wish to be here. I had to be persuaded to come here, but I won’t need any persuasion to leave. My life and my children’s lives are not for sale. It seems to me that there are senior courtiers here who expect me to be grateful for the lavish lifestyle the court offers and in return that I should do as I am told. I am neither grateful, nor am I going to do as I am told. If you want an Empress then you’ll get one who tells you what to do. If I stay I shall live in my farmhouse that has been reproduced within the palace grounds. Whilst aboard the Void Shrinker, the troop ship that brought my family hither, I met with great consideration, care and good manners. I met a lot of persons whom I consider to be friends, persons of all ranks. A duchess admiral all the way down to a raw recruit, the fourteen year old son of a miner. My children were provided with guards who amused them on what could have seemed an endless tedium to a child. My children came to love those highly trained killers. They were some of the best troops in the Empire I was told. They were more importantly some of the best persons I have ever met, parents all whom I would entrust my children to without a qualm. I was warned that not all in the Empire were so.” The venom dripped off her honeyed words. “So it would seem.”
“I accept that it is reasonable that my husband and his family should be protected by the Imperial guard. I have no problem with a new barracks being built on my farmland. Lord Gellinya has suggested that since I managed to achieve good relationships with the military rather than courtiers it would make sense for the barracks to surround my farm house and its out buildings. I have agreed, for that way no one will be able to attack my children again, and it will make the tasks of maintaining security easier for the guards. I am currently in the process of seeking guards for my children like the ones they had on board the Void Shrinker. Should some of the guard become friends of my husband, myself or my children they shall be welcome in my house, as friends like any other, not as guards. I should regard it as appropriate that the guard barracks be fed from my kitchen, so I should appreciate some help working my land, looking after my animals, in my dairy and my kitchen. If I stay I wish to farm more land and I want to farm it myself I neither want nor need a farm manager. I’m perfectly competent to manage a farm myself.
“I am also perfectly able to dress myself and require no ladies in waiting. I do not wish useless young ladies of ‘impeccable’ family pedigrees. I wish folk of any age, ordinary folk like myself, who either already know what they are doing or who wish to learn. They would not be serving for nothing but the prestige of serving, but employees working for a living remuneration. In addition I shall nurse the daughter I am carrying myself. I know all about the custom of royal babies having a wet nurse. No other woman is going to usurp my privilege and right to nurse my babies. Not this one, nor any other I shall bear in the future. You don’t have to like it, but you do have to accept it, for you have no choice. I nurse my babies or I go home, and this miserable place has a long way to go before I shall even consider calling it home.
“I shall take Ingemar’s and Lord Gellinya’s advice on what ceremonial affairs I become involved in, and none else’s. The moment some one uses the words custom or tradition to justify what I should in their opinion be doing they have already determined that I will not do it. Ingemar has already advised me I should accept Gellinya O’Betula, of clan McAtreen, as my senior most aid, so I have so done. He is one of the few friends I have here. Whether I stay long enough to need him remains to be seen. I see you are uneasy with me referring to the man I have shared a bed with for many years as merely Ingemar without titles. I suggest you become used to that, for I have no intention of ever referring to him as anything else. He is the man I love, the father of my children and his name to me is Ingemar. If there is anything I have forgotten to tell you, or something that occurs to me in the future I shall tell you about it when it occurs to me.
“Yes I shall just be making it up as I go, but if you want me you are in for as much change as I shall be in for, and that I believe is reasonable. You don’t have to want me, just tell me to go and I’m gone, and you won’t get a second chance. If I stay the biggest changes occur right now. The entire Consort’s court is dismissed, for I have no use for it, and I’d rather it were dismissed and told to go home than it remain to work endless political mischief that will take up valuable time and more to the point taxes paid by the commons to unravel. In addition you nobles have a month in which to consult with the commons as to what they desire in terms of equality of rights. What the commons desire, not what the aristocracy is prepared to concede. If I do not see irrefutable evidence that a meaningful consultation has taken place and something is being done about it I shall go home with my family. A consultation without at least some immediate results will result in me leaving with my family. You may be wondering why I am saying this and not Ingemar. It’s simple. It’s how we agreed to inform you because he cares too much. I don’t care at all how many of you I offend, and neither do I care how deeply I offend you. You are the ones in need, not us.
“Without the Empire our lives will be peaceful, whereas without us millions of you will probably die in the resultant civil war, and the survivors will all be living in poverty and hunger. Your neighbours outside the empire are already poised for invasion which would make slaughter, rape and looting commonplace throughout the Empire, so you have a decision to make. You need to consider why I should care about a culture that has despised me and made my life difficult from the moment I set foot on the planet, for I can think of no reason. I have heard the rumours that without serious change the commoners will start by slaughtering the entire aristocracy which seems a good place to start to me. I suggest the aristocracy remember I am a commoner who unfortunately for you is married to your Emperor. I intend to remain an unashamed commoner. I shall not let you even attempt to turn me into a fake aristocrat, so that you can sneer at me behind my back. The only difference is I am now a commoner with an extraordinary amount of power over you, and I’ll be damned before I allow the nobility to continue to abuse the commoners. If it comes right down to it I shall make common cause with the commons and let the nobility die at their hands.
“Lest you are concerned I have a blade to your throats over this I shall relieve you of your doubts, I have. However, as I said I’ve heard the rumours and I see the signs of revolution, so I’ll give you a reading of the future, and the sight runs true in my family which has long had association with the Sidhe. Not only do the rumours speak of it, but I have seen it. If you do not emancipate the commons they shall butcher you in your hundreds of thousands and then you can argue about the rights your nobility entitles you to with your dead peers in your graves. And you’ll be a long time dead, so you can argue for long enough to thrash the matter out thoroughly.” A shudder went through the listeners and watchers for when Siobhan had said she would give them a reading of the future and the sight ran in her family she had sounded other worldly and they had believed her reading. Too, none would dare invoke the name of the Sidhe in a falsehood.
“I have said all I intended to say. If there are any major questions to be asked immediately please ask them, but don’t waste my time with trivialities, for I have a cheese in the making that requires my attention.”
Siobhan’s last instruction was to the dozen and a half courtiers surrounding herself and her husband. Only one indicated he had a question. He faced the camera’s and said, “To those who know me not, I am Gellinya O’Betula, of clan McAtreen. My family has provided the senior courtier to the Consort for many generations. In the face of what the Consort has just said it will still be to the great honour of my family and clan to continue with our traditional rôle. Though I know the Consort not well, I think I can truthfully say I know her better than any other than the Emperor and their children. I urge the populace both noble and common to accept her terms, for I believe it will bring a much needed modernisation of the Empire. I also believe rejection of her terms will bring chaos and monstrous scale death, destruction and poverty for all, commons and nobles alike, and possibly the breakdown of the Empire into an Empire wide civil war completely incapable of confronting the invasions that, as the Consort has said, have been preparing since the death of the previous Emperor. However, that is for you to decide. I have one request of the Consort, a request for a small relaxation of her words. We are a formal people and such a change will be difficult for us all. My request is that though you wish to dispense with formality and titles may we refer to you as Lady Siobhan, for that would make all, noble and commoner alike, considerably easier in their dealings with you?”
Siobhan though for a minute or so before replying, “I don’t particularly like it, Gellinya, but I can see the justice and reasonableness of it. I will allow none to put a blade to my throat, but no more do I wish to put one to the throat of any else for no good reason. Yes, that will be acceptable. I hope that my instructions are complied with, and so I shall work on the premise that they will be. I would request that you meet with me this afternoon to discuss the employees I would like, for I have no idea how to go about finding them. I know your family and clan are farmers. Think you some would like to continue to farm here, for me, for a mutually satisfactory remuneration?”
“Lady Siobhan, on those terms I could fill all the positions you could possibly require in a matter of hours from my clansfolk. They would be proud to do it, for it would tighten the bonds twixt the Consort and my family greatly.”
“That will be excellent. I shall consider my needs. Please make a start on the building of the new barracks. Twelve hundred soldiers will need some feeding so make plans to enlarge the kitchens and all else to suit. If you consider that more troops than that would be appropriate then make the necessary arrangements. I have heard that there is a need for an extra major training barracks, and I should have no objection if that is established around my farm, for it seems sensible. I shall have more words with you later. Thank you.”
Ingemar closed the televised session by saying, “That is what my wife regards as a minimum to persuade her to stay. If she leaves, by our laws all her children are part of her body till they become adult, so she’ll take them with her. I will not live other than at her side. I’ll pre-empt any political chicanery right now. Any attempt on her life or on any of my children and I leave immediately never to return, and the Empire can do what ever it wills with its future. I’ll leave with whatever remains of my family or even on my own if I no longer have a family, for I have no wish to rule over those who plotted, permitted or brought about the deaths of those I love. I suggest those true to the Empire make sure those who would cause such a situation die quickly, and I promise immediate Imperial pardon even if there was only suspicion of treason. If it is a commoner who kills a noble, you shall have my gratitude, a patent of nobility and sufficient land to give you and your descendants wealth in perpetuity.” At that there were gasps of surprise from all and of shock and horror from the nobles, for the Emperor had just declared open season on the aristocracy.
When Elesse Ingemar’s mother heard his words to the commons concerning his family she hugged Siobhan and whispered, “That man of yours, my dear has turned out to be better than I could have ever possibly have imagined, or indeed even hoped. I was saddened and angered when he left with no warning. There was a huge argument one evening after dinner concerning a young woman his father and I wished him to marry. I can’t even remember who she was now, and the following morning it was discovered he’d gone. He’d said it’s what he would do, but none including myself had believed he would ever do it. The search for him dragged out from days to months, from years to centuries and finally to millennia. When my husband died it became imperative to locate him and the risk to the realm from outside invaders was considered to be less significant than the risk from inside forces vying to seize power before he could be located and brought back. So much so that most of the frontier military were withdrawn to aid the search for him.
“When I heard he’d been located with a pregnant wife and eight children happily living the life of a small scale farmer on the far side of the settled universe I didn’t know what to make of it, and I’ll be honest I wasn’t sure how much credence to place on Gellinya’s assurances that I would love you and that you would make a superb albeit radically different Empress. All know of his clansfolk’s fanatical commitment to the Consort. It’s a vow they have held sacred for scores of millennia, and they maintain a standing private militia of a minimum of twenty thousand troops purely to defend the Consort at need. Admiral Flint, her man and all her crew including all the guards that protected your children on the Void Shrinker are all members of his clan’s private militia. That is doubtless why he selected the Void Shrinker for you, for it would be the safest place he could. Much of the time his clan’s military serve with the Imperial forces on the understanding that their primary obligation is to the Consort. In protecting your body which includes your children their entire clan would have been overwhelmed with pride. I wondered at the time if he’d allowed that to cloud his usually incisive judgement. I rapidly came to realise he was correct in every detail that he’d relayed to me concerning yourself and my grandchildren whose rearing he was absolutely correct about when he told me they could not have been reared better anywhere by anyone, for they have better manners than most nobles could even dream of their children having. You are the best Empress imaginable for the Empire at this time. Ingemar’s father and I could not have chosen a better wife for him and our family.
“I suggest at some time in the near future you suggest to Gellinya that you should meet his clansfolk and inspect their troops. If you take your children with you protected by a select guard of his folk you shall all be perfectly safe and the protection of his folk will be ensured to your heirs for millennia. No Consort has ever done that before and it is to my shame that that includes me. That you would be prepared to walk with your children amongst his folk will ensure not just their protection but their love too. It will certainly be overwhelming, for it will embody all their dreams come true and they will wish to touch you which means your children for till adulthood they are you. They will all be like your guard aboard ship and every one of them would willingly die for you secure in the knowledge of certain acclaim in the eyes of their clansfolk and that their dependants will be not just supported but supported in comfort. In their minds you are the reason for their existence. I also suggest that you request of his folk publicly that they provide your personal guard rather than the Imperial guard in the barracks about your farm house, which of course includes protection for your children. None will ever pass them, nor be allowed into the presence of you nor your children without escort able to obliterate them should they have ill intentions. With or without a pass none will try to do what Garbred attempted, for death would be the only outcome. It may seem strange to you, my dear, but you command by love alone the most deadly fighting force in the entire Empire. Your troops would overwhelm at odds of five to one the best of the Imperial guard. I suggest you make maximum use of them to protect my grandchildren. Feel not guilty about it, for the way you naturally interact with persons well disposed to you and your children will fill them with pride. You shall deserve their protection.
“Yourself and Ingemar will probably be the most effective and beloved Imperial couple in our very long history. I have been wondering how it will all play out, but I believe it is going to be a period of great change that will benefit the Empire enormously. I suggest you don’t back up so much as a finger nail, for the goodwill from the commons that your demands will ensure will result in enormous economic growth to the benefit of all. I’ll support you as much as I can, but do I pray you listen to Gellinya, for he is astute and deeply committed to you. He would rather die than fail you, and he’ll take your side against all, even Ingemar, for he did so for me against my husband on occasion.”
Elesse changed the subject to ask, “On a completely different subject, have you thought of any names for my granddaughter?”
“Yes, but I haven’t told Ingemar yet. I wanted to ask if you would object to Elesse as her given name?”
Elesse had tears in her eyes as she said, “You do me great honour, Daughter Siobhan. Tradition gives royal children four names, but if you wish to leave it at just one I’ll support you.”
“One is fine, Mother.”
Comments
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