Sweep of the Blade

Tell me all about it.

Oh you clever, clever lees. Maud leaned back and laughed.

Clan Nuan watched her. For some reason it cracked her up even more. She laughed until she snorted.

"Did I say something funny?" Nuan Cee inquired.

Maud managed to get the giggles under control, enough to squeeze out a few words. "How long was Nuan Nana waiting in that hallway for me?"

The room was suddenly quiet.

"I mean, it had to be since the beginning of the dinner, since you had no way of knowing if or when I would throw a hissy fit and storm out in a huff. I've been wondering since I came through the door why a Merchant of Baha-char, a distinguished guest, wasn't at dinner. This is so well done, Honorable Nuan Cee. The pillows, the veils, even the candy. Here I am, all alone, a stranger in a strange land, and you're bringing back all of my childhood memories. Such a clever, manipulative trap. I'm primed and ready to spill all of my secrets."

For a moment the Merchant just stared at her. Then Nuan Cee raised his paw-hands and dramatically rolled his eyes. "You can't win them all."

The lees around them giggled.

"You're as ruthless as ever," Maud said. "You flatter me, Matilda," Nuan Cee said.

"Are there jammers active in here?" she asked.

"Please." Nuan Cee waved his left hand. "Of course there are. We jam the audio, but we do give them the video feed. We have to give them something or they will throw us out."

They were being watched, but not heard. Just what she expected. "Did you bug the feast hall?" Maud asked.

Nuan Cee rocked his head side to side, then grinned. "Yes."

Maud chuckled and popped another piece of candy into her mouth.

"You can't blame me, though," Nuan Cee said. "You wield great influence over the Marshal."

"I wouldn't go that far."

"Oh please. Arland is besotted with you."

"Besotted?"

"Yes. I've used that word correctly. If there was a river of fire and you were on the other side of it, he would strip off his ridiculous armor and swim through the flames to get to you." Maud laughed. "First, the tachi, then you. What is this really about?"

"I doubt the tachi know about your relationship. They are academics," Nuan Cee said. "Which does not mean they won't pounce on you once they know."

"What is this about?"

"Business." Nuan Cee bared a mouth full of sharp teeth. "And a great deal of money."

"I'm listening."

He reached over, took a tall glass of some pink liquid from a side table and sipped it. "You have seen the battle station?"

"I have."

"The battle station changed everything. This is now the safest area of space within this quadrant. There are many trade routes that intersect here, or they could, provided there was a safe haven. A place where a spaceship could dock easily without worrying about burning fuel in orbit. A place of trade and commerce."

The light went on in Maud's head. "You want House Krahr to build a space station."

"Yes. And I'm trying to give them money for it."

"A space station in vampire territory giving access to other species? Dozens of foreign vessels docking in the Holy Anocracy's system? That has never been done."

Maud sipped her pink wine. It tasted like watermelon, strawberry, and sweet grapes rolled into one.

Nuan Cee groaned. "How can a spacefaring species be so close-minded? They already built the battle station. They have made this expensive thing that can guard the whole of the system. It is sitting there and costing them money. I am proposing something that would bring a huge profit for everyone. There is not a docking station for the non-vampire species anywhere within the quadrant."

"Anywhere within the Holy Anocracy's territory, except for the diplomatic space station near the capital star system, as I recall."

"Exactly. Dozens of species desperate for a port facility. They're hanging there like ripe fruit. All I am asking House Krahr to do is to stand under the tree, open their mouths, and let the bounty fall into them. They could recoup the cost of the battle station within two years."

He was right. The space station would earn House Krahr a fortune.

Nuan Cee moaned in genuine distress. "I do not understand. Do they not want to make money?"

"Is that why the tachi are here?"

"Yes. They have an archaeological dig on On-Toru. They have to travel hundreds of light years out of their way around vampire space to get there. A space station here would give them a nearly straight shot to that colony. They're willing to pay top prices."

Maud leaned back. Getting the vampires out of their "by vampires for vampires" mindset would be next to impossible.

"You know vampires," Nuan Cee said. "And you have influence with the Marshal."

"As I said, my influence doesn't go that far. Dina told me that you and House Krahr have reached a settlement on Nexus that made all of you rich. You should be the natural ally for the Krahr. If they are resisting you despite all of your shared history, nothing I say would matter. I am a nobody here."

"You are Matilda Demille."

The family name

across her memory.

How would Mom go about this?

"Have you noticed how obsessed with defenses they are?" she asked. "As a species, vampires spend more time in armor than out of it. Take this castle, for example. A smaller structure would've sufficed, yet here it is, a monstrous castle with impossibly thick walls and enough defenses to hold off an assault by an overwhelming force. I haven't been under the castle, but I would bet that below us is a network of tunnels burrowing into the mountain, so deep, it would withstand an orbital bombardment. The chances of such an attack happening are exactly zero. You've seen their fleet. Arland's destroyer alone can hold off a small armada. The system is already as protected as it could be, yet they built a battle station on top of it. You're asking them to allow outsiders into their space, many different outsiders, not just a select few trusted allies. You are forcing them to go against their nature."

"I'm offering to make them wealthy beyond their wildest dreams."

"They don't care. It's not about money." Maud swirled the wine in her glass and took another sip. "It's about the Mukama."

"I have heard about the Mukama," Nuan Cee said, his face thoughtful. "But never from a vampire. You are almost a vampire."

Maud smiled. "Would you like me to tell you about the Mukama?"

"Yes. There is a piece missing that I do not understand."

"Very well. It goes back to the Law of Bronwyn." The galaxy had very few universal laws, but the Law of Bronwyn had proven true again and again, so often that it was simply accepted. "Once a species is introduced to interstellar spaceflight, it will advance technologically but not socially," Nuan Cee said.

Maud nodded. "Yes. Their individual standard of living may drastically improve, their technological progress will continue, but their social construct mostly stays the same. The ability to travel between the stars removes some of the pressure factors known to drive societal change. Once you get interstellar spaceflight, suddenly population density is no longer an issue. Geographical limitations are gone. The competition for natural resources is largely gone, at least in the initial stages. Different splinter groups within the society no longer have to learn to coexist; they can simply move apart from each other."

Nuan Cee nodded.

"Societal change is hard, because a society is made up of individuals. These individuals learn how to be successful in that particular social construct, and they resist change because it threatens their survival. To really implement a change, one must convince the population that their survival as a whole is in doubt unless they alter their course. Because interstellar flight removes a lot of these survival factors, the society in question generally stays as it is once the ability to traverse the stars is achieved. If they were hunter-gatherers, they remain so. If they were a republic, they remain a republic, and so on."

"Yes. It is a known fact," Nuan Cee said.

"The Mukama invaded the Holy Anocracy when the vampires were in a feudal period. The vampiric society, at that point, consisted of powerful clans led by warrior aristocracy and were bound together by a strong religion. The Mukama must've thought the vampires, so technologically behind them, were easy pickings. What do you know of the Mukama?"

"Not much," Nuan Cee said. "They were a secretive species and this conflict happened a long time ago."

"They were a predatory species," Maud said. "They didn't want the planet. They wanted the vampires themselves, particularly the children. The adults were used as the workforce and the children as a food source. The Mukama found children to be tender and delicious."

Nuan Cee grimaced.

"The vampires retreated to their castles. Reducing castles to rubble would have destroyed all of the lovely meat inside, so the Mukama had to commit to ground assault. It was discovered that the Mukama didn't do well in narrow enclosed spaces. They were an aerial species. They hunted from above. It was also found that the Mukama's mass stun weapons didn't work against a vampire in armor. It was a long war."

"How long?" Nuan Cee asked.

"Almost two decades. At some point, about eight years into the conflict, the main Mukama flotilla lost contact with the orbital fleet dispatched to the vampire planet. It took them another decade or so to wrap up their previous engagements. Finally, they bestirred themselves and went to find out what happened. When they arrived, they found the orbital fleet exactly where it was supposed to be, in the system. The ships were intact and filled with vampires." Maud swirled her wine in her glass and smiled. "Nobody has ever met a Mukama."

"No," Nuan Cee admitted.

"But here we are, enjoying the fresh air of their home world."

Nuan Cee startled.

"House Krahr was one of the original greater houses," Maud told him. "They were entrusted with the planet of Daesyn to make sure no Mukama ever breathed its air again."

She set her empty glass on the table. A little lees ran up and refilled it.

"When we started this story, I told you that a stable society is resistant to change. The Holy Anocracy is stable, Honorable Nuan Cee. They won. Why would they change? Their way of life has worked for them for thousands of years. They never stopped building castles or wearing armor; they just make them stronger. They never abandoned their faith, because it sustained them in their darkest hour. They cherish their children, they guard them like their greatest treasure, and they teach them to fight from a young age, because history taught them that children are both precious and vulnerable. Without children, the Holy Anocracy has no future. Above all, the vampires distrust outsiders. Nothing good ever came to them from beyond the stars. You are an outsider fighting against thousands of years of inertia. A single strange bird flying at a massive flock, trying to change its direction. The kind of change you are seeking can only come from within, from someone deeply respected, someone rooted in their society. Neither you nor I have that kind of clout. But I will speak to Arland the next time I see him. If I see him."

"Oh, you will see him," Nuan Cee said. "He is coming down the hallway now."

Maud took a deep breath.

A moment later, Arland loomed in the doorway, carrying a large gray case. He saw her. "My lady."

Helen waved at Arland. He took a step into the room, but the lees swarmed him, pushing him out into the hallway.

"You left her alone!"

"People were mean to her."

"She was sad!"

Maud glanced at Nuan Cee. He smiled at her.

Arland looked at her above the lees, a pained look on his face, and raised his arms in mock surrender.

"I suppose I should find out where he was." She sighed.

"Come see me anytime, Matilda," Nuan Cee said.

She hadn't heard her real name in years. Only her parents called her that and only in rare moments.

"I will," she promised and meant it.

***

Maud stepped through the doorway into the hallway. Behind her the door slid shut, cutting off the lees and their outraged cries.

Arland glanced at Helen. His eyes darkened. "Who?"

"It was a formal challenge," Maud said.

"I'm getting ripper cushions," Helen told him.

Arland turned to Maud.

"Lady Helen challenged someone in the nursery, was warned not to fight, and did it anyway. Now there will be repercussions." "Did you win?" Arland asked.

Helen nodded.

"All is well then. If you go through life never doing anything deserving any repercussions, you'll never know victory." Helen grinned.

"That is some fine parenting, Lord Marshal." Maud loaded enough sarcasm into her tone to sink a space cruiser.

"I try," Arland said.

The three of them looked at each other. Awkward.

"May I walk you to your quarters?" he asked.

"You may." It was that or continue standing in the hallway.

They walked through the keep to the covered bridge, Helen running back and forth, sometimes in front, sometimes behind. The storm still raged and green lightning flashed overhead, ripping through the dark sky. "I'm sorry," Arland said.

"For what, my lord?"

"For not being there during dinner. It wasn't my intention."

"I don't need your protection or assistance, my lord. I'm not a prisoner. I'm here because I choose to be here. If I felt I couldn't hack it on my own, I would've left already."

They crossed the bridge into the tower and stopped at the end of the chamber where the two hallways branched off, one leading to her quarters, the other to his.

"I know that you don't require my protection, my lady. If I thought you did, I wouldn't have extended the invitation. I'm not looking for a maiden to save. I'm looking for a partner."

She narrowed her eyes at him.

He ignored her and kept going. "However, it was my intention to escort you to dinner and to spend the meal with you. I regret that my duties detained me and that I was unable to make you feel welcome in the feast hall of my home. Please accept my deepest apologies, my lady."

If they got any more painfully polite, they would draw blood simply by speaking.

"No apologies necessary, my lord. It was time well spent. I was fortunate enough to experience the hospitality of House Krahr first-hand."

He waited.

"Nothing to add, Lord Marshal?"

"A wise man knows when to shut up," he said. "I have a mother and a female cousin. I know that tone of voice. Anything I say now will be wrong. I will humbly wait to be banished or forgiven."

"Humbly?" "Yes."

"Why, my lord, I'm surprised you know the meaning of the word."

He looked at her. She looked back. They crossed stares like swords.

"Are you going to fight?" Helen asked in a small voice.

Oh, for goodness' sake..."What's in the box?" Maud asked.

"Dinner," he said. "I didn't get to have one and from what I understand, neither did you. Join me?"

She considered stomping off to her room in all of her pissed off glory, but it would be childish. Also, she was starving.

"Yes," Maud said.

Arland grinned at her. She nearly raised her hand to shield herself.

"Just a dinner," she said.

"Just a dinner," he said. "Also, I downloaded The Saga of Olasard, the Ripper of Souls, onto my viewer. It's animated."

It hit her. Helen had never seen a cartoon before. Then his words sank in deeper. "Umm, there is that one part in the catacombs..."

"Oh, no, they took that out. It's made for children."

"Oh good."

The door to Arland's quarters was identical to hers, heavy, reinforced, old. It slid open and he stood aside, inviting her in. She stepped through the doorway into a mirror image of her suite, complete with doors leading to the bathroom and balcony. Yet nobody would confuse the two spaces. Her chambers were devoid of personal touches, but this place clearly belonged to Arland.

A small alla tree grew in the corner, its branches heavy with white blossoms. It was in good health, so someone was watering it. A stack of actual paper books waited on the table by the massive bed. She saw a copy of a popular YA novel from Earth and bit her lip to keep from laughing. A variety of knickknacks lay here and there; a long, wicked dagger not of vampire make; a piece of misshapen metal; a small wooden figurine carved in painstaking detail, probably by Wing, one of the creatures staying in Dina's inn. If she squinted just right, it sort of looked like her...

Arland swung his hand before a wall. It split open, exposing a linen closet. He grabbed some large floor pillows and tossed them on the rug. A fuzzy blanket followed.

"Viewer," he ordered.

A screen slid from above, covering the opposite wall.

"Saga of Olasard."

An animated vampire knight appeared on the screen, wearing elaborate armor, holding a bloody sword in one hand and a severed head in the other. He raised the sword and roared.

Helen's eyes grew huge. "It's like a book! But it's moving."

"Pause," Arland said. "Helen, I gave you access. You can tell it to pause, rewind, and fast forward."

She looked at the pillows and then back at the screen. "I need my teddy!"

"Let's go get him," Maud said. "We'll be right back."

A couple of minutes later Helen and her teddy were situated on the pillows. By the time they came back, Arland had opened the box he carried. Ribeye steak, with ribs still attached for the ease of holding. Half a dozen vampire side dishes, thinly sliced meat, roasted vegetables, little tiny pies... The smell alone made Maud's mouth water.

Arland produced a stack of plates. Helen loaded hers up, crawled onto the pillows and started her movie.

Maud made her plate, propped a pillow against Arland's bed, and sat on the floor. Arland sat next to her with his own dinner. Their arms almost touched.

Maud attacked the food. For the first five minutes nobody spoke. Finally, she ate enough to take the edge off the hunger.

"Where were you?" she asked quietly.

"Dealing with an idiot. One of Karat's knights challenged her in direct violation of my orders."

So that's why Karat wasn't at dinner. "How did it go?"

Arland shrugged. "He'll walk again. Some day."

She smiled at him.

"As Marshal, I had to deal with it. And by deal, I mean I had to watch that farce of a fight and then slap him with sanctions."

"A man who never does anything deserving repercussions will never taste victory,"" she said with a straight face.

"That idiot couldn't find his way out of a boot with floodlights and scout support. Trust me, victory is not in his future."

On the screen, a massive creature charged Olasard, who heroically jumped impossibly high into the air, swinging a sword that was almost as big as he was. Helen clutched the teddy to her and took another bite out of her steak. "Went a bit overboard with his sword," Maud murmured.

"More dramatic this way," Arland said.

She liked this, Maud realized with a shock. She liked sitting here on the floor with him, watching Helen. It felt almost like a late-night pajama party. Comfortable.

Safe.

It had been so bloody long since she'd felt safe. There was the time in Dina's inn, but Gertrude Hunt had been under assault.

They could've done this in her quarters, just her and Helen, but it wouldn't be the same. It was him. Arland made her feel safe.

Alarm screeched at her senses. To let your guard down was to die. What am I doing?

"Is something the matter?" he asked quietly.

The anxiety saddled her and galloped off. This was ridiculous. The simple act of relaxing was so alien to her that her mind went into convulsions, thinking she was in danger.

Maud opened her mouth to lie.

No. She promised herself she wouldn't.

"This is strange," Maud said. "Being safe is strange."

Arland reached behind him, pulled a blanket off the bed, and draped it over her. "It will pass," he said quietly. "Eat a little more. Food will help."

She picked up her plate. Her instincts screamed at her to get out of the room. Instead she moved closer to him. They were touching now.

He draped his big body against the bed, relaxed, calm. Maud took another bite.

"The tachi were on the verge of leaving," she said. "You served them salad."

"They are vegetarians."

"They like meat. They just won't eat it in enemy territory."

"Are we the enemy, then?" he asked, his voice calm and measured.

She took another bite and moved half an inch closer to him. "They're trying to decide. They like patterns in their food. The more elaborate, the better. Where is your Maven?"

"Dead," he said. "She was murdered just as she prepared to be a Band Bearer for an important wedding. Her name was Olinia. She was my youngest aunt."

"I'm sorry," she said.

"Her assassin is dead. The person who betrayed her is dead as well. That's how I met Lady Dina."

Onscreen, Olasard lopped off three heads from evil vampires in a single swing. Helen waved the ribeye bone around, imitating it.

"Can I ask you something?" Maud asked.

"Of course."

"Why do you have a copy of Twilight in your room?"

Arland became completely still. "Um."

"Lord Marshal?" she prompted with a small smile.

"I wanted to know how women from Earth see vampires."

"Why?"

He paused, obviously choosing his words carefully. "Your sister is a fascinating woman."

"You don't ever have to apologize for being attracted to my sister," she told him. "She is amazing."

"She is. To my shame, I must confess that it might have been more than just Lady Dina's fine qualities. A certain rivalry may have played a role."

"Sean Evans," Maud guessed.

"I decided back then that I do not like werewolves," Arland said. "I have yet to change my mind. Ghastly creatures."

They sat together in comfortable silence while she picked at her plate. He was right. Food helped. Of course, if she relied on food to stave off her anxiety, she would soon have to get a new set of armor.

"We do not get many outsiders here," Arland said. "Kacey, my cousin's stepbrother's wife, is the first human I had ever seen. As adolescents, we were all fascinated by her. She was different. When I visited the inn, I had never before met anyone like Lady Dina. Feminine, wrapped in mystery, yet firmly in control of her domain."

"The mystique of the innkeepers," Maud murmured.

"Yes. Sometimes meeting someone so different obscures the real person underneath. One becomes more fascinated with what a person represents than who they are."

"Mmmm." Where was he going with this?

His voice was intimate and sure. "What I'm trying to say is, I see you. I would love you if you were a vampire or a human, because of who you are. You don't need an inn or a broom to fascinate me. You only have to look my way and you'll

have all of my attention."

Something fluttered in her chest. Something left over from before Karhari and her marriage.

She tilted her head and gave him a narrow smile. "What if I were a werewolf?"

He sucked in air, pretending to think it over. "I would love you still."

She laughed quietly and rested her head on his shoulder.