Playing God(18)

The Debating Chamber, at least, had not changed. A dozen heavy marble tables, each large enough to seat twenty, stood in a semicircle under the portraits of the Majestic Ancestors. The floor's mosaics depicted the peninsula and islands of t'Aori on a blue-grey sea. It was a rich and solemn room, but somehow diminished in its emptiness. Aside from the Queens, the only occupants were a quartet of servants busy around the kitchen pit by the left-hand wall.

The Queens-of-All stood around one of the ancient central heating pits. They had not aged well. Praeis had been there when the Queens had taken the rule. They were vibrant then. Two of them had live bellies, rolling with the precious burden of their daughters. Now they looked old, with sagging faces and pale skin that stood out starkly against their plain black robes. Their daughters were nowhere in evidence. Praeis found herself wondering if they were still alive.

Despite the changes, Praeis still knew them all: blunt, broad Ueani Byu, subtle Aires Byu, whose attention could be like a knife against your skin. Between them stood the First-Named Queen, Vaier Byu. She could be underestimated, if you were not careful, but it was she who ruled the triumvirate, as the triumvirate ruled the t'Therians.

“Welcome home, Noblest Sister Praeis Shin.” Vaier Byu stepped forward. “And to your daughters, our Noblest Sisters Resaime Shin and Theiareth Shin.”

Praeis closed her eyes and raised her hands, palms out. “For my daughters and myself, I thank my Majestic Sisters.”

“You are most welcome.” Aires Byu's voice was smooth and quiet, but nonetheless it filled the room. Cloth rustled. “Open your eyes, Praeis Shin, find a seat for yourselves and your daughters. Food is being brought.”

“Thank you, Majestic Sisters.” Praeis opened her eyes.

She and her daughters sat stiffly on a single sofa under a rendering of the five Mother Queens. The Queens-of-All each took individual seats. Praeis felt surrounded and hoped it didn't show. The cooks brought glasses of water and teas, and platters of fish strips and fried rice cakes. Praeis smelled the food and instantly began to salivate. She helped her daughters to portions and took a piece of fish for herself, trying not to feel the eyes of the Queens on her.

“Now then.” Vaier Byu picked up a glass of green tea and sipped at it. “What have you been told?”

Praeis licked her fingers in appreciation of the warm food. “Only that I have been pardoned, and that I am needed.”

Aires Byu dipped her ears, in acknowledgment or approval, Praeis wasn't certain which. “Do you have any ideas about how these things came to be?”

Praeis spread her hands. “I assumed plague, Confederation, and time.”

“Decent assumptions.” Ueani Byu caught up a rice cake and munched it down in two bites. “And not far from wrong.”

“I am at the service of t'Theria and our Queens,” said Praeis. “Where I have always been.”

“And your daughters?” asked Ueani. “These childless children of yours who've never seen t'Aori until now? What about them?”

Res's cheeks twitched. “Our loyalties are our mother's.” She spoke more fiercely than she should, and forgot to close her eyes, but her words were good. Praeis took her hand and pressed it quietly, hoping to smooth out the fist it had knotted into.

“Very right and proper.” Aires Byu picked up another rice cake. “Very firm, too.”

“That's enough, Aires,” said Vaier Byu. “Your daughters do you credit, Praeis Shin. I am glad you are back before us.” She studied the depths of her glass of tea. “Do you know how many of us the plague has taken so far?”

Praeis's shoulder muscles quivered. “I had heard half.”

“Half.” Vaier Byu sipped her tea. “It may well be half. The truth is, we do not know exactly. Nor do any of the near family, nor any of our old allies. We only know our cities are emptied, our armies diminished, and our survivors, what few there are, are left scarred, deaf, and sometimes crippled.

“If the Getesaph chose to attack today, we could repel them, but it would be a close contest.”

Praeis's ears wanted to fold against these words, but she forced them to stay still.

“What is not publicly known, of course, is how close it would be, although it is widely suspected. Also suspected is the uncertainty that this year's harvests can be brought in, or that next year's can be assured. No one, of course, could miss how few fishing boats are still able to go out. The shortages are not yet felt, but they will be, in another year. Then there is the fact that our sisters and daughters are still dying.” She raised her eyes and focused them on Praeis. “You can understand, then, Noblest Sister, why we chose to join the Confederation.”