The Consuming Fire (The Interdependency #2)(67)

“When you put it that way, it doesn’t sound so great.”

“That’s because it’s not. At least not compared to what you could have, which is everything.”

Deran was silent for a moment and then sat up in the bed. “I’m not sure why you care,” he said. “Jasin is perfect for you. He’s ambitious but he has no imagination. You can point him in whatever direction you want and he’ll go there and knock down everything in his way. Isn’t that what the House of Nohamapetan wants in an emperox?”

“It’s what the house wants,” Nadashe said. “It’s what my mother wants. Look how she’s locked on to Jasin. She knows a good, maneuverable thing when she sees it.”

“And you don’t want that?”

Nadashe lifted herself up, placed herself in Deran’s lap and locked her legs around him. She put her arms around his neck and started playing with the back of his cared-for but not overattended hair. “Maybe what I want is someone I don’t have to wind up and point in a particular direction. Maybe what I want is someone who appreciates what I have to offer rather than just agreeing to use me for their own plans and benefit. Maybe what I want is someone who will give me children who don’t run the risk of being depressingly dull. Maybe what I want is someone who knows how to fuck and will keep me happy doing it.”

Deran grinned at this again and Nadashe could feel him stirring under her, which meant he had a tolerably short refractory period, which is a thing she could appreciate, just not right this second, when she was still mid-pitch.

“Maybe, Deran Wu, what I want is someone who will actually be an emperox, and not just a tool for me and my family. Grayland is wrong about a lot, but she’s not wrong that everything is changing. We need someone who is up to it. Grayland isn’t up to it. And look at Jasin. I’m willing to bet he doesn’t actually want to engage with the fact that things are going to be different and chaotic and dangerous for the next decade. I can push him and prod him, but he’s limited to how fast and far he’ll go. He’ll knock down everything in his way, but he won’t ever get to where we need him to go. So maybe what I want is someone who will get there, with me helping, not pushing.”

“‘Not pushing’ doesn’t sound very Nohamapetan,” Deran said.

“I’m willing to work on it,” Nadashe said.

Deran smiled at her, and there was a flash of something actually human there: the smallest bit of uncertainty. “You don’t actually know me,” he said. “I don’t actually know you. You’re asking a lot from a complete stranger.”

“I’m scheduled to be married to your cousin, who I know even less. And anyway, Deran, let’s be clear what’s on the table, here. This is a political union. Pure and simple. We know each other well enough to understand that, at least.”

“So you ‘showed me the ship’ to get me to make a deal,” Deran said.

“No, I did that because I needed to get laid,” Nadashe said. “But I’m not going to lie to you, Deran. You did the tour well enough that offering you a political deal became more interesting.”

“I’ll take that as a compliment.”

“You should,” Nadashe said. “But now I need you to tell me if you’re taking me up on my offer. If not, thank you for breaking my drought. If yes, then we need to get to work.”

“Undermining your mother and my cousin.”

“No,” Nadashe said. “I want them to keep doing everything they’re doing.”





Chapter

18

Just before the Auvergne slipped behind Dalasysla Prime, Marce received an encrypted text message from Hatide Roynold.

Ship coming for us definitely not friendly, it said. We launched a drone to the Flow shoal; it was blasted down. The crew is at stations and the rest of us are on lockdown. Looks like we’re running and fighting this one out. Pretty sure Captain Laure doesn’t think this one is looking good. Someone has to have sent them, whoever they are.

Laure is letting me send this one message to you. Says that if things get bad, she’ll dump all the data we have for the mission in a powered-down drone and put a delayed transponder on it for you to find. It includes some new work from me you’ll find interesting. Says that the request for a ship for the Dalasyslans was already sent. If it was, you’ll just have to tough it out for a couple of weeks before it arrives. Breathe only when necessary.

I’m not going to lie. Kind of wish I stayed home. Or actually went on this last away mission with you. This is what a lifetime of introversion gets me.

But thanks anyway. You didn’t have to listen to me when I came to you. You did. You believed me and made me a friend. I liked that about you.





—H


By the time the Auvergne came out of the planet’s shadow, the Bransid was an expanding cloud of debris.

*

“Here’s that ship,” Hanton said. He pointed on the Auvergne’s command screen to a dot, moving toward the Flow Shoal back to Hub.

“We’re sure that’s it,” Sherrill asked.

“We’re sure. It’s the only thing in this part of the system that’s moving that fast that’s not in an orbit around Dalasysla Prime.” He pointed to another dot on the screen. “Here’s the Flow shoal back to Hub. “At its current speed it’s going to take twenty hours to get there. It’s not accelerating at the moment, which is interesting.”