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"I took his sister hostage and the next time he meets with the Chrymphten he will give them false information on Oceanus's defenses."
"His sister?" Myccael latched on, raising an eyebrow.
"Not important," I deflected, "more important is that I will need the majority of our combined fleets in hiding on Oceanus as soon as possible."
Myccael rubbed his chin, "That would leave our other planets defenseless, and you don't know when they will attack, do you?"
I grunted, "Ney."
In silence I watched Myccael pace through the luxurious halls of his palace. Now and then I caught sight of the dragoons trailing him, when his palmtop shifted.
"You don't know when they will attack, nor how many will come," Myccael said at length.
"Ney," I admitted, seeing his point. "Maybe Nathan will be able to extract more information when he is with them."
"Do you think he has the guts for it?"
I thought about that for a moment. "I do," I finally concluded. "He seems a capable leader who got caught in an unfortunate situation. He'll do it if he can. If not for any other reason than to keep his sister save."
"You'll need to convince him that she will be punished for his failings." Myccael cautioned.
"I'm open to any suggestions my mighty Susserayn might have," I concurred, not letting on that I had already done so. I wanted to test our new susserayn, wanted to see how far he was willing to go.
Myccael snorted derisively, "That would be a first."
“How should I punish the seffy if he fails?” I prompted, letting him get a taste of my predicament.
His expression darkened, realizing he had stepped into a small trap. “I’m sure you will figure out a proper punishment.” He redirected.
I shrugged, the problem was that we knew each other too well. Myccael had been a spoiled court brat for many rotations who had only recently grown into a male and his power. I respected him for the obstacles he had overcome but most of the time he was still Myccael, Heir of Hoerst to me, rather than Susserayn Myccael. I wasn't the only one thinking that way and I was sure Myccael was aware of this as well, but took it in strides, another proof of having grown into a prime male.
He dropped the subject and moved back to the problem at heart, the Chrymphten. "Let me think on it and bring it to the council."
"Zyn, Susserayn," I waited for him to disconnect, before I did. He was the susserayn after all.
The doors to the other room opened and Niara stepped into my living quarters. Her chin was pushed forward in defiance, but her wringing hands contradicted the confidence she tried to project.
"Am I to stay in here all day?" Her voice didn't waver and gave sound to her indignance.
"I told you that you are free to move about," I reminded her.
Her dress was above what humans normally wore, but it was easy to see that it was old and worn. The hem of her skirt was slightly frayed, and a patch bore witness to where it had been mended.
"You look lovely," I complimented trying to gauge whether she was wearing this dress in defiance of me or because she didn't have anything better.
The garment she had worn earlier, when I first met her, could have been made for any lady at court, so I tended to believe that she was wearing this in defiance until I remembered she had left that dress behind in the shack where she had changed into a bathing suit.
"Thank you." Her cheeks flushed a hue of rosy, "My apologies, I left my good dress on Horn."
Ah, just as I thought.
"No reason to apologize. If anybody should, it should be me for taking you from your home. I’ll send for dressmakers in the morning, to update your wardrobe."
Her blush deepened, the idea seemed to appall her. "You don't need to—"
Whatever she was about to say was interrupted by the arrival of our dinner.
"Shall we?" I waved my hand toward the smaller dining table, indicating for the servants where to place it and for Niara where to sit.
