Dressed, cleansed of all her makeup, she felt capable of thinking again.
She had to tell Vega and Galenos what had happened. Vega was here, on Lancia, but she’d be at the palace. Not the smartest place to talk when you wanted to inform on Emperor Yu. Should she go back to the ship and report to Captain Helmo instead?
At least Dow had given her enough of a reprieve to report to someone.
“That’s much better. You look like you.” Toll focused on the braid on her shoulders. “Royal Guard. We are moving up.”
Radko slung her kit bag over her shoulder. “Thank you, Toll.”
“Although seriously, Radko. Don’t stay too long in the Royal Guard. It’s a career killer.”
“It’s been fun, lately.”
Her bag vibrated again.
She didn’t want to talk to them. Unless… maybe it wasn’t about her. Maybe it was about Ean. She snatched the comms out of her bag.
Vega.
She clicked it on.
“I hope you haven’t done anything stupid,” Vega said, by way of greeting.
It wasn’t about Ean. It was about her. “I might have done, ma’am.”
Vega sighed. “Where are you?”
“At the barracks, ma’am.”
“Which barracks?”
“Baoshan Barracks.” As if there was more than one.
“So you’re still on Lancia?”
“Yes, ma’am.”
“That’s something to be grateful for. Report to me. Now. I’m at the palace.”
“Yes, ma’am.” That solved one problem. Vega must know something already. She’d want to hear the rest.
“It will take you twenty minutes. If you’re a minute late, I want to know why.”
“What a dictator,” Toll said, as Radko slipped the comms into her pocket. “Who is she?”
“My boss. Gotta go. Thanks, Toll. I owe you.” Radko took off at a run.
Radko arrived at the palace barracks as paramedics wheeled a stretcher out. It was Sasha Martinsson, one of Michelle’s bodyguards.
Vega took her job as head of Princess Michelle’s security seriously. Anything that got in the way of her doing her job upset her. Sure enough, she was scowling at the empty space in the assembled team where Martinsson would have been.
“What are the chances of one of my crew collapsing two minutes before they’re due to escort Her Royal Highness to the Emperor?” Vega demanded of Radko.
“Low,” Radko said.
Commodore Bach, in charge of the Emperor’s Royal Guard, stood beside Vega. “We can supply a guard for you.”
“One I don’t know? I’d rather go in understaffed.”
She wouldn’t, of course, and she couldn’t go in herself. That would look bad. “You,” to Radko. “Get in line.”
Radko obediently got in line. Yu wouldn’t recognize her. She hoped. He didn’t recognize house staff or guards. They were like furniture, and just as dispensable. But Bach’s soldiers would.
Or maybe not. She was in uniform now, without the makeup that had covered her face. They might recognize her as a relative of the Emperor, but he had lots of relatives—particularly illegitimate ones, for Emperor Yu’s relationships had been prolific in his youth—and there were half a dozen in the fleet.
It was too late, anyway, for they were already marching out the door.
“Wait.” Vega put a hand to Radko’s arm to stop her. The whole team stopped as a synchronized unit. “This stupidity of yours. How urgently does it need fixing?”
Sattur Dow wanted something. He’d organized a reprieve. Could it wait? Probably. Unless Emperor Yu recognized and killed her this time.
“It can wait,” Radko said, and the team marched out.
Down the corridor, away from anyone who was likely to pry, Radko said quietly to Ashleigh, beside her. “In case I don’t survive tonight, tell Vega I don’t trust Sattur Dow. He has plans.”
Ashleigh’s shock was palpable. “You think Sattur Dow was behind the bombing of Confluence Station?”
Radko misstepped—she never misstepped—and concentrated on getting back the rhythm.
“No,” but then they were outside the princess’s apartments, and Michelle was walking out to join them. They surrounded her, like the well-trained protective machine they were, and marched her to the throne room.
Radko’s training let her make the right moves, which was just as well, for she wasn’t thinking about them any longer. What had happened on Confluence Station?
Was Ean all right?
What if Ean wasn’t there to protect? What if he’d been killed in the attack? What would that do to the line ships? No wonder Vega had asked if she had done anything stupid.
They entered the throne room.
Radko took in the changes at a glance.
Sattur Dow had gone. The guards had changed.
Michelle moved to sit on the seat Sattur Dow had been sitting on before. She was smiling. “Father. It’s good to see you looking so well.”
Of all the Emperor’s family, the Radko branch included, Michelle was possibly the only one who retained a genuine affection for the Emperor.
“One cannot say the same of you,” Yu said. “You are looking tired. That last news conference you gave.” He waved a hand. “Perhaps you are working too hard.”
Radko stared straight ahead. She couldn’t tell if the comment was genuine concern, delivered badly, or a veiled dig.
“It won’t be forever,” Michelle said. “It’s for Lancia, and we both want the best for our home.”
“For Lancia. Yes. Although, Daughter, I have some concerns regarding what you perceive as good for Lancia.”
“I do not understand.”
“It is for this reason I have called you home. Without your shadow.”
“My shadow?” Radko couldn’t read the look Michelle gave her father. “It is unusual for you to be so oblique, Father.”
“Then let me be blunt. Lancia has half a garrison on Haladea III, plus a number of high-ranking executives and statesmen.”
“Hand-chosen,” Michelle agreed. “People who will bolster Lancia’s standing in the New Alliance.”
“Therein lies our problem, doesn’t it? They have been chosen by you. You and Admiral Galenos. Yet you block me and my representatives.”
Michelle stilled. “I assume we are talking about my refusal to allow Sattur Dow to set up offices on Haladea III.”
Sattur Dow again. Had Michelle’s refusal triggered Yu’s plan to provide Dow access through Radko?
“Your refusal. Or Galenos’s?”
“Mine.” It was firm. “The worlds of the New Alliance associate Merchant Dow too closely with the palace here at Baoshan. They believe that anything Dow does is with your tacit approval, and with some advantage to you. We cannot afford to lose all our goodwill. Sattur Dow’s reputation as a ruthless businessman who destroys everything that gets in his way is well deserved.”
“So is that of Merchant Pact, from Yaolin, and Merchant Fanko—”
“As is your reputation for swooping in after Dow has destabilized commerce and taking concessions for Lancia.”
“Only a foolish man would ignore something ripe for the picking. Ignore it, and other worlds get the fruit.”
“Rightly or wrongly, the New Alliance sees Sattur Dow both as a threat to the economy of Haladea III and as the beginning of Lancia’s attempting to take control of the New Alliance government. They see it as Lancia’s attempt to take over the commerce of the Haladean worlds. And once we own the commerce, to control the government, for that is what happened on Pasko.”
Michelle paused. “I see that, too.” She sounded calm, but her back was damp. “We cannot afford to lose what support we have by bringing in people other worlds don’t trust.”