The Third Nature -Book One of the Triad

Voyager fantasies by Lt Taya 17 Janeway

"she will come"

 Jackelyn Maldor paced the smooth marble floor of her mother's receiving room. The young princess was impatient, her silk pants billowing as she made abrupt turns to pace in the opposite direction. The Empress never kept anyone of House Maldor waiting, especially not her own daughter. Why was she late?

Watching her half-sister stalk across the room, the wolfchild hid a sardonic smile. She was seated on the floor in her usual spot, at the far end of the room, behind the throne where no-one could see her. The tiger cub lay beside her, and she scratched the cub's head lazily. Behind her, Falkner and Falda stood at attention, whilst Calista stood at her customary position by the throne of Her Eminence. "If you don't stop walking around, you're going to wear a hole in the floor," she sneered at Jackelyn.

The girl turned to her with a dangerous glitter in her eyes, spitting. "Shut up, Little Jackal. Don't talk where you're not supposed to. You're overstepping your boundaries." She continued pacing.

The wolfchild gritted her fangs. She hated it when people called her Little Jackal, even more so than when people called her wolfchild. It was a taunt, layered with many meanings. It was a throwback to her roots, implying that her blood was impure, tainted with that of the wolf-kind, the stealthy jackals who hid in the darkness, the sly jackals who did things secretly and without honor. And it also implied her lowered status in the household, that she be considered Little Jackal. Less than Jackel, always inferior to her older sister. So inferior that she didn't even merit a name. Her grip tightened on the tiger cub, and it mewled in distress. Realizing what she had done, she patted the little tigress placatingly, and it settled against her lap, content.

The doors to the receiving room burst open, and the cub jumped up, hackles raised, hissing, as Empress Nayrn Maldor stormed into the room. With a single gesture of her hand she slammed the heavy ornate doors behind her. Three days had passed since the fall of Haldon, and three days the Empress' rage had simmered. It never seemed to end. It was easy to see why: She'd lost twenty garrisons of her best officers in one fell swoop, as well as a major force in her Eminent Naval Army.

Jackelyn fell on one knee to greet her mother formally. "Your Eminence," she said. Nayrn ignored her and stormed past, springing into her throne, her robes billowing around her.

Jackelyn spun to face her mother, her icy demeanor unruffled. "Mother. You are upset."

Nayrn hissed at the girl. "That's the stupidest remark I've heard anyone make today," she snapped. She raged silently in her chair for a moment, then she sprang out of it and continued Jackelyn's pacing. Making slashing movements in the air, she sliced out the silhouette of a starship, lean and cetacean, with a sleek elegance that caught the wolfchild's imagination. The Empress stared at the ship for a moment, then she crushed the glowing blue lines with her own power. "Voyager…" she hissed, spitting every syllable like a curse.

"We never envisioned that they would be so powerful," said Jackelyn slowly. "Might Myriam's Seers speak true?"

"The Emissaries? Bah!" Nayrn let out a sharp, bitter laugh. "No, that's just myth. They were just lucky that they fitted the bill… they're nothing more than mortals. Insignificant." She smiled with sweet venom at her daughter. "You're not going to let a few air-puffed titles mislead and frighten you into submission, are you?"

Jackelyn raised her chin proudly. "Of course not." The fifteen-year-old graced her mother with a sharp-fanged smile. "As a matter of fact, I have a plan for luring her over to the palace… to finish them once and for all."

Nayrn paused, the beginning of a real smile spreading across her face. "Really."

Jackelyn grinned. "Forget the loss of the army and the fleet. They are trivial in comparison to the loss in morale the Panizhe will suffer when they lose their vaunted Emissary."

Nayrn circled her daughter with a predatory smile. "Shoot away."

"While you were making battle plans, I took the liberty to ask a few of the Haldon Guard to do me a favor. As a result of that, we have in our possession several men from the Daer-on-Naiad. One, in particular, a young courier boy, is the betrothed of Myriam's youngest daughter. I heard the two of them had grown quite close. The loss of the boy must certainly hit her hard."

Nayrn's smile widened. "And Myriam is so protective of her children…"

"Precisely. As I have no doubt, she'll have stationed some spy in the bowels of the servant's area… so once the word is spread that this boy is well and alive with us, it shouldn't be too hard for her to be persuaded to send someone over to do an exchange for the child."

"And since the only person whom she trusts enough and whom we have not met is the Emissary…" said Nayrn slowly.

"… Myriam will send her into our waiting jaws. It shouldn't be too hard to finish her off while she's here with no-one to back her up. A suicide spell, perhaps?"

Nayrn let out a cry of delight and gave her daughter a hug. "Perfect, as usual, without all the expenditure needed on an all-out attack. All we need to do is to start a few rumors, let our operative work and she will come! You're so brillant."

Jackelyn flushed and curtsied slightly. "You're too kind, m'lady."

"Oh, don't get all m'lady-ish on me," complained Nayrn. She threw one arm around Jackelyn's shoulder. "This warrants a celebration." With a laugh, the two swept out of the receiving room.

As they left, the wolfchild eyed Calista in alarm. The devastating attack on Maldor had thrown the Fire sphere into temporary chaos, rendering them unable to perform but the simplest spells. It had set them all on edge. "You must warn your mother! The Emissary must not be lost."

Calista shook her head. "On the contrary, I'm not going to contact her for the next few days at all."

The wolfchild's eyes widened in alarm. "Why?"

Calista shot her an annoyed look. "Isn't it obvious? You heard what she said. The only way that she will come is if they know that Bryanna's mate is here. As long as I don't tell my mother that Perron is here, she'll never find out."