ome_ cleavage when I wear the right robe or top."

Jason had to chuckle silently to himself. She may be Empress Dahnai Merrane, ruler of 72 star systems and the most powerful woman in the Imperium, but she was _all_ Faey, to the roots of her hair. Both literally and figuratively. She was showing him that her title didn't change her core Faey personality, and part of that was a desire, almost a need, to be admired by the opposite sex. Just like a man who might lift weights to impress a girl, Dahnai had worked out to make herself the most physically attractive woman in Dracora, and he had to admit, she did one _hell_ of a good job. She had toned herself in all the right places and built muscle in all the right places to absolutely maximize her feminine beauty. In her case, her muscle truly did enhance her attractiveness. She was built like a brick house, and could probably punch like a bull, from the ripple in her biceps when she moved her arms.

Jason knew Faey, and he knew he had to both take her preening seriously, and also not read too much into it. She wasn't baiting him or luring him, she was just showing off, and that was something Faey girls loved to do for men. She wanted him to look at her because she wanted to hear him say that he thought she looked sexy. That was all it was about. Even if she had absolutely no interest in him at all, just knowing that he thought she was sexy would make her feel good about herself.

"I'm impressed," he said honestly. "You did a really good job. You're drop dead sexy, Empress."

"You're so sweet," she gushed, belting her robe. "So, now that you've finished everything up, I had a few things I wanted to ask you," she said in a more serious tone. "Come on, let's go sit down. Did you eat?"

"Yeah, I picked up something when I went through the kitchen."

"Good. I told them to accommodate you. I'm not sure where your ride home is, so I'll arrange a room for you over in the guest wing. But before you turn in for the night, I want to talk to you a little."

She took him to the living room, and sat him down on the couch. She sat down beside him, sliding her legs up daintily and putting an arm over the back, getting into a comfortable position half facing him. "Now then, Jason, I have to ask," she began, reaching out towards him. He didn't pull away when she put her fingers on his gestalt, but he did have the presence of mind to make it shut down when she started pulling. She pulled it off his head gently, raising it over his ear, then she took it in her hands and turned it over, then looked at him. "Is this a _real_ gestalt, or just something you replicated to look the part?"

"What do you mean?" he asked carefully.

She chuckled. "I see it is. Jason, honey, there's three versions of things around here. There's what I _officially_ know, there's what the _Siann thinks_ I know, and there's what I _really_ know. You saw an example of that today with the Trillanes, seeing all three versions at once. I'm not just a pretty face. I'm a history nut. It's my hobby, I love it. I've read my history, and what's more important, I have access to a more accurate version of history than most other people. The Karinnes had been running some pretty crazy experiments for years, trying to develop computers that could send, trying to break the machine-Faey telepathic barrier. They were fuckin' obsessed by it. They did have some successes, but they never worked exactly right. One of those near-misses was developed into the gestalts, machines that could understand very basic sending, you know, focused, basic thoughts of a couple of words, and translate it into commands. So, this is a real gestalt, isn't it? Too bad nothing in this room is set up for remote operation, I woulda loved to try it out," she mused, putting it on her own ear bravely, snuggling it down. "How do I look?"

"Like you're wearing something that belongs to me," he answered before he really thought about what he was saying.

"Oooo, an impertinent snap! How wonderful!" she said with a giggle. "Keep it up, honey, you're almost there!"

"Almost where?"

"Almost treating me like _Dahnai_ instead of the _Empress_," she answered with a wink. She took the gestalt off and handed it back to him, and it made Jason a little wary. Clearly, the Imperium knew more about the Karinnes than the Karinnes knew, but they also didn't know everything. He was going to have to be very careful here. He was growing fond of this woman, but he wasn't going to tell her _anything_ about the Karinnes. "So, you know about these, that's good. Did you find anything else interesting in the ship? The Karinnes had their own technology, you know. It was different from the Imperium at that time. Some historians think it was more advanced, that the Karinnes didn't share everything they discovered. I think they're right. That little fighter sitting out on the lawn was pretty amazing, and it has to be, what, fifteen hundred years old?"

"The scout ship was stripped out when we found it," he answered with complete honesty. "When the Karinnes abandoned it, they took everything, even some of the wall-mounted equipment. We had to put some of it back together to get it to where it would work."

"You did? How did you fix it?"

"Well, Myleena's pretty gifted," he blurted. "With her help, we got it working again."

"Ah, so _you're_ the one who kidnapped her!" she laughed. "She's been missing for days!"

"I guess she has been," Jason mused. "Can you kinda pull some strings? She didn't come with us willingly at first. It wasn't her fault."

"I'll make sure she doesn't get into trouble," Dahnai assured him with a grin. "So, does your Karinne ship run using these? Does it have any manual controls at all?" she asked, pointing at the gestalt he was putting back on his ear. "The histories that only the Empress can access, the old intelligence files, say that the Karinnes converted their entire system to run on the gestalts, that you couldn't even open a door on Karis outside of the Academy without one. I must say, it's one hell of a security measure," she chuckled. "As long as they kept tight control of the gestalts, anyone snooping around couldn't so much as get into a building without inside help."

"I... I don't think I'm going to answer that, Dahnai," he said, after weighing the situation. He was sure that she knew that he knew a great deal about the truth of the Karinnes, so pretending ignorance about them wasn't going to work. But, she didn't know how much he knew, so he was going to have to walk a fine line, admitting to a small truth and hiding the much larger one. "When I found the ring, I also found some orders from the one who left it where I found it. She ordered whoever found it to silence, to never reveal what we discovered about the Karinnes, and I'm going to honor that wish. I'm very sorry, but I can't tell you anything."

"Not even if I order it?"

He shook his head. "I like you, I really do, but this is a matter of principle. I haven't even told my _wife_ about some of what I've found, because the woman who held this ring before me commanded me not to. I may have consigned myself to live in your system, but I'm not betraying my honor or my values, even if you order me to."

She gave him a stern look, then she laughed. "Fair enough," she told him. "I think you were a good choice as the new Grand Duke Karinne. I think you really understand things, better than I thought."

"What do you mean?"

"I think you know what I mean," she winked.

How much did she know? If she was really as well versed in _real_ history as she claimed, she probably knew a lot more than most others about the Karinnes, but clearly, she didn't know everything. And he could see some lively times in his future dealing with her, because she clearly knew that he _did_ know more than he let on, before he had made that declaration, and she wanted to know herself. He just hoped she wouldn't be as tenacious as Jyslin was. Good God, Jyslin had been a pit bull, sinking her teeth into him and refusing to let go once he piqued her curiosity.

She just gave him that same mysterious smile, raising her hand from the back of the couch and waving it towards him. A handpanel appeared in his vision, floating in the air, and it floated over to him. He took it, again in wonder at Empress Dahnai's amazing ability. She made it look so easy, and he remembered how hard it had been for him! "Read that."

He did so. It was a schedule, the schedule of the Empress At Court, the times when she held open court. There was one every five days, held for at least three hours, which was by custom. But she also held other courts, usually to debate matters of policy or law with the _Siann_, or for official functions. "That's my schedule for the next two months. I expect you to be here for every one of those courts."

"Be here? But I have"

"I know you have a lot to do, but you're not going to get yourself situated as someone who knows what's going on and someone the others better not fuck with if you're not here to show them," she told him. "Consider this an order, honey. You _will_ be here for every open court. You don't have to say a word, just stand in the corner like you did earlier today. Just lose that look, like you were a _tabaxi_ caught in the headlights of a hovercar," she said with a smile and a wink. "You're gonna need to rent a house or something in town, though. It can get tiring traveling back and forth. The others in the _Siann_ keep a residence in Dracora, you should too. Oh, and keep your schedule loose. I'm gonna teach you how to use your _other_ little trick."

"_You_ are?"

She nodded. "You already know my dirty little secret, and it'll give me all sorts of private time to wear you down and find out the truth," she winked.

Nope. She was just as bad as Jyslin. Probably even worse. He could see some real barnburners in his future dealing with this woman.

"I meant to ask. If it's a secret, why did you do it, you know," he hedged, his eyes glancing at the guard in the corner, who quietly and unobtrusively defended the Empress, even in her own apartment.

"The guards know more about me than anyone," she chuckled. "And their silence and loyalty are beyond reproach. After all, they're around me all the time. Sometimes I forget they're even there, and that's the way they like it. If I don't know they're there, then they're doing their job by defending my person without interfering with me or my personal life. They're with me all the time, except for one thing."

"What?"

"I refuse to have sex with an audience watching," she stated, looking at the guards. "When I bring a man in here to get some, they leave. It's the biggest thing I feel I should have the privacy to do without guards watching. We've had that little argument in the past, and it's the only thing I've ever been able to win on," she said with a grunt. "If I wasn't so much larger and stronger than most men, I doubt they'd even have given over on that. I think they feel that if I'm one on one against a naked man, I'll win. Not only is my talent stronger, but the guards have taught me how to throw a mean right hook. They trained me to fight hand to hand. These muscles do more than make me look hot."

That guard over in the corner. Jason was looking at her while Dahnai was talking, and her stony, sober face cracked a slight smile.

"Show him, Ynara," Dahnai called, looking at the guard that had smiled.

The woman in the corner, she stepped forward to the couch, then she raised her chin. Under her chin, across her throat, was a dark scar.

"That's the commitment the Imperial Guards take, Jason. They have their vocal chords surgically removed. That is the vow of silence, the oath to keep the privacy and secrets of the Empress to themselves. I know it doesn't mean much to a Faey, since she can always send, but it's a tradition that goes back to the formation of the Imperium. And it's a _lifetime_ commitment. When a woman becomes an Imperial Guard, the only way out of the order is death. They serve as long as they think they're fit for the duty, and when they're ready to retire, they take up residence here in the palace, in their own wing, known as the Pensioner's Wing. I go visit them from time to time. Real funny group of old ladies."

"Hold on, one of those guards spoke to me when they brought me here."

"That was a trainee," she answered. "They don't have the same duties as the other guards. If she passes her training, she takes the vow."

"Oh."

Ynara nodded, then returned to her place in the corner.

"You get used to them. You really have no choice," Dahnai chuckled, tousling her shimmering gold-copper hair. "When I was first on the throne, I was a little intimidated by them. They don't obey me like everyone else, following their own rules, and they're all really focused, you know? I thought they were all brainwashed or something. It took me a while to get over that and start talking to them. A woman has to be a graduate of an accredited Academy before she can even apply. Outside of their degree, they take courses on all kinds of things, like musical instruments and etiquette, even stuff like sciences and philosophy, so they know how to treat visitors from other nations, and so they can entertain me if I'm bored, and carry on an intelligent conversation. They can't sing, of course," she chuckled, "but Ynara there, she plays a mean _sinar_. She's really good."

The guard, Ynara, she smiled and bowed slightly.

"So, the next question, Jason," she said, leaning against the back of the couch more. "The one you never answered."

"About what?"

"Will you come work for me?"

He gave her a strange look.

"Who do you think gave you that master key?" she told him. "Or the exomech? _I_ did. The master key was your escape rope in case things went sour on you, and the exomech, well, I wanted to see if you really were as smart as some of my advisors said. So, I sent you something that had tech you'd never seen in school, and I wanted to see if you could puzzle it out and fix it. I've had my eye on you for a long time. Before the Kimdori derailed my plans for you, I had you right on course to land you in a lab somewhere, a place you could use those brains of yours. I was having some of my people interfere with Trillane to keep them from finding you, and I was about to start putting more of a hand in to get you where I wanted you, but then you started your rebellion and kinda messed that up. But, since I know now that you're a Karinne, well, I can see where it comes from. You're from a long line of Faey who had science in their blood. Your technical skill is fucking _genetic_ or something. So, wanna come work for me?"

"I don't have time for that," Jason snorted. "I'm gonna have my hands full with everything else, and you want me to come work in research?"

She chuckled. "I know, but I just wanted to hear the answer," she winked.

"No."

"Fair enough," she told him, tousling her bronze hair. She was silent a long moment, just looking at him, and he wondered what she was thinking. She was a dangerous, dangerous woman, this Dahnai Merrane, but he had to admit that he did rather like her. She was nothing like what he expected the Empress of the Imperium to be. And as far as he was concerned, it was a _good_ thing. This Empress was witty, warm, compassionate, and had a sense of humor he could appreciate. That was much better than the cold, aloof woman he'd imagined before meeting her. "Have you considered how you're going to handle Terra? I know all of this is new to you. You're not a noble, you're a builder, and now you have to build a working government."

"I've had some idea. I'm not quite ready to put anything in stone, though."

"Good. If you want to talk about it, I'm here, and I'm not busy now that I've kicked Maeri's ass. I'd be happy to help."

"Well, I might ask you some questions about some general things, but I'll be honest, Empress. You'd just tell me to do things in a way that just won't work. My people won't operate under a house system very well. It's not _us_. If I want to make things work smoothly, it has to be done the _Terran_ way."

"Very good!" she said brightly. "I wasn't sure if you understood that, but you do. You really do. I think you're gonna be one _damn_ fine Grand Duke, Jason. You already understand, and you see the holes and traps that woulda made things nasty for you if you tried to do things any way but your _Terran_ way. The Makati don't use a system like any other noble house either, but for them, it works, and it works well. So, build what you know the Terrans will be able to work under, hon. It's your planet, they're your people. You understand them better than we do. Give them what works for them, and they'll work for you."

"I'm going to," he nodded. "It won't be easy, and I'm gonna have gray hair before it's all over, but I think we can build something that works."

"That's all I wanted to hear. I'm feeling better and better about going out on a limb and handing Terra over to you. I wasn't sure if you were up to the pressure, but now I see that you'll be able to handle it. Oh, and keep an eye on Anya. She means well, but she'll try to bully you whenever she thinks you're not doing things right."

"I can handle that. I'm not afraid of Faey."

"Good. But you better be afraid of me, or I'll punch you in the nose," she winked.

"You could try," he said evenly.

"Oooooooo, that sounds like a _challenge_," she said, reaching over and slapping him on the leg. "Care to get up and put your money where your mouth is?"

"Dahnai," he said carefully. "I'm not about to become the first man murdered in your bedroom by your guards because I punched out the Empress. I can _guarantee_ you, I have way more training in hand to hand combat than you. I grew up learning it. You just learned what the guards thought you should know. I know much more than those basics."

"Ynara, Brini, Zai, don't interfere," she announced uncoiling her legs and standing up. "If he does hit me, you will _not_ intervene. Do you understand?"

The three guards in the room nodded to her.

"And I promise you, Jason, I won't do a thing if you do hit me, even if you bruise me or give me a black eye. I'm not that petty. So, get up, Jason. I can't let a challenge like that just slide by, the Imperial honor is at stake now. Get up, and let's see if you can hit me."

Jason sighed. "Alright, alright, but let it be known right now that this is a stupid idea, and you're gonna regret it."

"Bah. I got ten credits says I can punch you in the nose."

"It's your money," he shrugged.

Two guards moved the coffee table to give them room, and Jason cracked his knuckles with an unpleasant look, his disapproval of this all over his face. Dahnai stretched her arms, then spread her feet and assumed a rather practical fighting stance, facing her left side to him with her left arm out defensively and her right in a good position to strike. It almost looked like the _karate _ready stance. They did train her pretty well.

But that's about as far as it got. Dahnai clearly thought this was some kind of fun game, because her firstand onlyattempt to punch him got her ass kicked. Much as Jyslin had done years before, she badly underestimated Jason's physical prowess. His hand whipped out in a blur to catch that well-formed punch, a punch using her shoulders and hips, a punch that was well taught to pack some power. It was a very fast, very strong punch, but it wasn't fast enough. His hand locked around her wrist, and it was over. He whipped her towards him, using her own momentum against her, stepped around her, then took her down in a shoulder throw. Assurances or no assurances that he wouldn't be held responsible for anything he did, he was _not_ going to punch the Empress and leave any bruises on her. She slammed into the floor, hard, and he twisted her arm and put a foot on her belly to hold her down. She gasped, her eyes wild, and then to his surprise, one of those long, long legs tried to whip up and kick him in the face. He caught her ankle with his other hand, let go of her hand, kicked the back of her leg with the foot that been on her belly, and then wrenched her around so she was on her stomach. Still holding her ankle, he stepped through her legs and grabbed the blue leg in his grip with both hands and torqued her knee against his own, just enough to make it hurt but not hard enough to injure her.

"Aaaiiiyaah!" she hissed. "I give, I give, I give!"

The three guards looked _shocked_. They gave him wide-eyed looks, and then all three of them started to nod. They could see that he really did know what the hell he was doing in a fight.

"What was that?" Dahnai asked from the floor as Jason let her go and stepped over her legs, releasing her. She rolled over to sit on her hip, one hand down to steady her on the floor as the other rubbed her knee, and then she looked back up at him. "I've never seen a move like that before!"

"Aikido," he answered. "It's a martial art that uses the energy of the opponent against her. It's a form of locks, holds, and throws. It's a martial art designed to immobilize or incapacitate. I learned it with my father, we were both students. It was when I was a child."

"It's pretty damn effective," Dahnai admitted. "Guess I owe you ten credits," she laughed, holding her hand out to him. He took it, and helped her up. She tugged at her robe to get it back into place. "Guess next time I try something else, something better."

"It was a good punch," he told her. "You were trained well. It just wasn't fast enough," he chuckled.

"Pft, next time, I'll take you on naked. I think you'll have a hard time keeping your eyes on my hands if my tits are waggling around for you."

"Part of my training is to ignore distractions and focus on the fight," he said conversationally. "You have a sexy body, Dahnai, but my old master would fight wearing all kinds of really weird things, even fight naked, but the worst was a girl's school dress, all done to try to distract us. Ever seen a sixty year, scrawny, ugly little old man about yea big," he said, holding his hand at his chest, "dancing around wearing a high school girl's skirt and blouse? If you can focus yourself when facing _that_ nightmare of a vision, you can keep your focus through _anything_, even a pair of swinging tits."

She gave him a look, then laughed.

"He was an eccentric old man, but I gotta admit, some of the oddball crap he used to do made a hell of a lot of sense later on."

_[Contact. KES _Scimitar_. Communication request. Open channel?]_

_[No, tell the computer to warn the pilot to hold position. I can't leave here until I'm dismissed.]_

_[Opening link to _Scimitar_ mainframe.]_ There was a very quick pause. _[KES _Scimitar_ mainframe. Command?]_

_[Tell whoever's at the conn to hold position and do nothing right now. I'm in conference with the Empress and I can't leave until it's done.]_

_[Relaying.]_

A servant came into the room and bowed. "You wished to be informed when the Grand Duke's ship arrived, your Majesty," the teenage girl said. "It has just appeared about twenty minutes out from the planet."

"Guess your ride's here, Jason," she told him. "I'll arrange to have a ship take you there, and I'll have your little fighter taken up to your cruiser with you too, okay?"

"I guess that's alright," Jason reasoned. "I have to get up there somehow." _[Tell them that I'll be coming up shortly, and they're bringing my Nova with me. So just have Zora approach the planet and park the ship in orbit until I arrive.]_

_[Relaying.]_

_[Oh, and tell them don't try to contact me. I'm kinda busy.]_

_[Relaying.]_

"I already have a dropship there waiting for you, Jason, and I'll have a cargo ship over in just a minute to pick up your fighter. It'll follow you up to your ship."

"Alright."

"It was good to meet you, Jason. I really enjoyed it, and I _really_ enjoyed kicking Maeri's ass today."

"I want to thank you one more time, Empress. What you did for my people today, I hope someday I can repay you."

"Oh, you will, Jason," she winked. "I call in my debts. Don't ever doubt that. Remember, I want you here tomorrow, noon standard time, at court."

"I won't like it, but I'll be here," he sighed.

"I don't like it either. We can suffer through it together. After court, you and me are gonna have another talk with Anya, and flesh things out a little more, then you and me are gonna have another little chat like the one we just had. So don't make any plans. Oh, and you _must_ bring your wife tomorrow. I _really_ want to meet her."

"I will, your Majesty," he promised with a nod. "I'm not sure she has anything to wear to the palace, but we'll figure something out."

"Then just come a little early, and I'll have a chamberlain get her something appropriate."

"Alright, we will. Do I need to give these robes back?"

She looked at him, then laughed delightedly. "No, keep them. We have plenty of spares, and they _do_ look rather handsome on you." She reached out her hand to him, and he took it and impulsively kissed the back of it, like he'd seen people do in old movies. She looked a little surprised, then she gave him a wolfish grin and crossed her arms under her breasts. "Now get home, you. You had a long day, and you need a good night's sleep so you'll be ready for tomorrow."

"I haven't had any private time with my wife since I was captured, Empress. I can assure you, she's _not_ going to let me sleep."

Dahnai laughed, and the little servant girl giggled. "Chini, take the Grand Duke to the landing pad," the Empress told the girl.

"Yes, your Majesty," the girl said with a bobbing bow. "This way please, your Grace."

                                        * * *

In all, it was an eventful day. But it was a good day.

Trillane was gone. His people were safe. He had done it, he had won. But there were more challenges ahead, more problems, more things that had to be done. Earth had to be transitioned back to self-governance. Cybi needed him on Karis, and there, they needed to breathe life back into a dead planet. He saw that he was going to have some interesting times on Draconis, fencing with the delightful, disarming, and thoroughly dangerous Dahnai Merrane, as she tried to find out what he knew.

But those were worries for tomorrow. For today, for the rest of today, there was just enough time to sigh and smile and know that if only for this moment, all was right in the universe, and the day could only get better. There were old friends on the _Scimitar_ he hadn't seen for months to be reunited with. Tim, Temika, Kiaari, Kumi, the survivors of the Legion, they were waiting to see him again. And then, there was beautiful, beautiful Jyslin, the light of his life, who was waiting for him to come home.

God, what a wonderful thing that was.

Tomorrow was tomorrow, but today... today had been _perfect_.


Chapter 20

_Vesta, 4 Kedaa, 4395 Orthodox Calendar_
_Tuesday, 30 November, 2008, Native Regional Reckoning_
_CNN Headquarters, Atlanta, Georgia, USA, Terra_

Every television screen on Earth shared the same image. It was a handsome young man, with green eyes and blond hair, dressed in a black Faey formal robe, sitting behind a glass desk.

"Good evening. I am Jason Karinne, Grand Duke of the House of Karinne, and effective immediately, I have operational control of the planet Earth.

"As most of you realize, I'm a human being. But, for reasons I'll explain in more detail in a press release tomorrow, I've been installed as the leader of the Faey noble house of Karinne. The short of it is that one of my ancestors was a Faey, and that Faey was a member of the ruling family of the House of Karinne. Since I'm the last known survivor of that family, the house comes to me. And since I _am_ a human, I've claimed the right of first option for Earth. Effectively immediately, House Trillane no longer has control of this planet. I do.

"As I'm sure many of you who live in areas where Faey work have noticed, there's a sudden influx of Faey soldiers wearing black armor. These soldiers are Imperial Marines sent by the Empress Dahnai Merrane to ensure that the withdrawal of Trillane from Earth is orderly and complete. While Trillane withdraws from the planet; these Marines will be assuming temporary control of all governments and law enforcement agencies. For the next few days, Earth will be under a state of martial law while Trillane evacuates. But don't worry, my friends, this is a _good_ kind of martial law, because the Marines are here to protect us from any attempts by Trillane to sabotage our planet or do any kind of damage while they are evicted from Earth. For the next week, I ask that everyone please stay home, limit your trips outside to going to the store for needed supplies, and to keep close to your vidlinks to keep yourself updated on the current news.

"Once Trillane has left our planet, we will be partially returning to our original system of government, at least up to a point. Every living former leader of the old nations of Earth either has been or is currently being contacted by emissaries of House Karinne, and it will fall upon your former leaders to reinstate their original governments. But I'll make this very clear, right now. Neither the Marines nor House Karinne will tolerate _any_ dispute over these governments by elements within the nations. If you were in a nation that was in the middle of a civil war, you are stuck with the government that had official recognition from the United Nations when the Subjugation began. And _there will be no more civil wars_. Humans will _never_ fight humans again, not over something as silly as who controls a country. If you don't like the government your nation had when the Subjugation began, you are more than welcome to try to effect change in a _peaceful_ and _non-violent_ manner. Armed insurrections against these governments will be stamped out quickly and _forcibly_ by Imperial Marines. The Marines are the law, ladies and gentlemen, and they answer to _me_.

"Each nation will be sending a delegate to the United Nations, and it is the United Nations that will be assuming the responsibility of governing this planet. Each nation will be partially independent, allowed to set its own rules and guidelines within its own borders, but it will also be subject to the rules and re