Eight

After a few weeks the hubbub died down again. I had issued a statement explaining how I was very grateful for all the consideration I received but that it was quite wrong to put me at the centre of a discussion I wouldn't want to instigate and could impossibly partake in seeing how I was hopelessly biased. Also I was of the firm conviction that if any rules were to be remade or decisions undone that would have to be because it was necessary for the well-being of the Chiss and not because some people wanted to even old scores. Or because one child was growing up without a father. It was received well enough and people went off to form opinions of me.

In the meantime the opinion Thorra had of me was to be improved by actually meeting the tight schedule she and Thkela had set for my development. I was allowed to watch some of the official events without being seen. It was quite an education.

Watching one Chiss using the lor'kina even when you couldn't hear him actually speak was like listening to half a conversation. Watching two of them, even if separated by the whole room, was like listening to a whole conversation. I felt painfully underequipped. Even if I was to spend every waking second with somebody to teach me, I would not be on par by the time I had to leave my comfortable seclusion.

And comfortable it was. Despite popular belief a nursemaid had been found very quickly. She had arranged herself with Rukh quietly and neither had ever mentioned it to me. It put me quite out of business, especially the easier kinds like changing napkins. That was smelly, but at least I knew what to do. I was not sure how to raise a little bundle of blue that could do nothing but look at me, grasp and make funny noises.

Unlike her, I understood the constant criticism, though. Why did she not start babbling already and though it was nice that she could hold her head up, shouldn't she keep it up a lot longer? And really her grip should be much more coordinated.

I had no basis for comparison. The poor kid was only a few weeks old. What were you supposed to do? I liked the smiling and the she started to actually see. Also, as far a I was concerned, her gurgling and ululating was rather intelligible. Okay, after getting up three times a night I might be too cranky to care, but that was getting less. All in all, I did not feel like an utter failure.

"She will always be late in her development," I explained again. "That's the human part in her. We mature a lot slower, reaching adulthood at eighteen or later."

"But what do you do with all that time?" Thkela held Sarah for the time being.

"Go through adolescence," I replied without thinking. It took a good half hour of work before the concept was fully understood. Thkela considered it a quite unnecessary stage of life. I agreed, not that it had helped me any. "I am not sure that compressing all this turmoil into a year does improve it any," I decided.

"We will see," she said, still optimistic that Sarah was just lagging a bit now but would get her act together. "It will be difficult to get her through the education system."

It would be difficult to get her in tune with anything. Even if the Fels were ever allowed on planet for a holiday... Why did things have to be so complicated?

"Because the Empire of the Hand," the Cheunh for that was foroki'tanerotye'par and it made me happy that I would not have to use it often, "is not a welcome concept here. It may be quite successful keeping one of our flanks clear, but its military doctrine is unacceptable." Thkela made a short pause. "We understand his train of thought, and commend his dedication, but that doesn't mean we endorse his belief."

'He' was of course Thrawn. I had gotten used to it fast. If it was obviously my exiled who was meant, the simple yia was used. Not even a form indicating he was now of a lower family, or actually none at all. If there was a great unknown 'he' around, that was my husband. It was an uncomplicated way to express that at least in private the social excision was understood but not endorsed, as Thkela would say.

I liked her. She was tough and had a no-nonsense attitude. I guess you needed that to keep a Ruling Family together and in business. And while this was Thorra's job now, it was still up to Thkela to make sure all pieces fit. She sure had her hands full with me and my slowpoke of a daughter. "Your bodyguard will protect her as well?"

"Yes. Seeing how I would give my life to protect hers, he considers it easier to make sure she is safe, too, instead of saving me from saving her and saving her at the same time. It seems like a logical concept."

"He will need to understand our language," she went on. "A few words to speak won't hurt either."

"Shall I teach him or do you want to appoint a teacher?" I made sure my body language indicated that I offered to do this and thought nothing of it.

"It might be wise to keep the extent of his understanding hidden for now." Thkela gave me a pointed look.

I lowered my head in understanding and submission. It also conveniently covered my relief. "I will do my best."

"It has also been decided that it is unwise to converse with Chaf'orm'bintrano."

I was not sure how surprised I was. "Why?"

"He is not, let us say, a friend of the Family." Thkela handed me back my sleeping child abruptly enough to wake her.

I tried to calm the plaintive wail with some success and could thus understand her as she continued.

"House Chaf is important in its role of foreign affairs, but too often they cannot keep the borders clear between what is military and what is civilian." She stood up and straightened her clothes. Yet another ensemble of dark red, looking like somebody had used too much softener on brocade. "We have many disagreements and Chaf'orm'bintrano argues strongly."

Okay. So whatever had turned angry, young Formbi from Outbound Flight into wise, nice Formbi from Survivor's Quest had not happened yet. Too bad that I could not, or would not, wait for that. Still I agreed. Once let loose on the Chiss society I would do as I pleased anyway. I allowed Sarah to chew up my finger with her hard gums as it kept her quiet.

"A choice of favourable contacts will be created. This way you can ease your way into society without embarrassing anybody who matters."

When Stent had been so full of praise for my formal skills. They were not practised much on Nirauan, seeing how they tended to get into the way of military efficiency. Stent had actually made fun of me for approaching him all formal. I thought of him wistfully. I would have gotten along with him splendidly had I not been handicapped with an advanced pregnancy which had made me unreliable in all respects.

"How can House Chaf be our second ally, if they disagree with us so much?" I wanted to know.

"The allegiances depend on shared interest as much as on tradition," Thkela explained. "Before House Prard took over trade from House Tiar, the Chaf Family was hoping to add it to their responsibilities. Trade would intertwine well with foreign affairs and the possibilities of trade in an expanding Ascendancy are very promising.

"But when Tiar fell, Prard stepped up and House Chaf had to find another ambition. Since they cannot fall back on trade with places in Space Beyond, they want to carve a piece from the military operations out there." She left me to my own musings.

Space Beyond. It sounded like a fairy tale place. But actually it was only known space. Perspective was everything. And Thkela was right. Provided trade was taken up with space beyond, be it the Republic, the Empire or the Hutts, it would be mightily profitable. More so than any military operation could hope to be. Come to think of it, the Houses with the most to lose if the Ascendancy opened to known space were Csapla and Nuruodo.

I let Sarah do the biting of nails while I sat thinking and listening to the tinkling of the waterfall. It was easy, wasn't it? All I had to do was make sure Chaf got their trade after all and that Mitth was assigned with the greater amount of military necessary while giving less interesting tasks to Nuruodo. How did you even abolish a Ruling Family? I would not even consider wiping all of them out.

And how would you go about that anyway if it was a meritocracy. If you missed but one member of the family, they'd just merit-adopt everybody they needed right back. Something easy with pasta from Pratchett was still haunting my mind when Sara decided that my finger was not actually edible enough to be satisfactory.

Whatever. Walking back to the mansion would likely put her back to sleep. And I needed to talk to Rukh. I was not sure if Thkela suspected anything, she had not accused me of anything, but it was better to be safe than sorry. I felt the urge to beat up something or get beaten up some and decided that I was going back to normal. Maybe I could get Lyk back some day to fill in that part of my life. He'd do exceptionally well.

Rukh agreed that we better start the official language lessons immediately. I put Sarah down on the sofa and got out the gasha board.

And this is the reason I didn't update here.