Chapter Nine

Katanes, Baron's Palace

The Professor sat on a balcony on one of the palace's towers, sipping a local tea that Danash had recommended to him and which he'd found quite good, and waited for his students to arrive.

As he waited, he glanced upward at the perpetually twilit sky, with the atmosphere filtering sunlight to a shimmering orange rather than the more brilliant colors he'd known on other worlds. There was something soothing to it, and to knowing that he could be soothed, after so long a life, so many sacrifices… and so many mistakes.

Shiran sighed and looked down at his tea, remembering his conversation with Midaia two days ago. That girl had always been difficult; even as a child she'd seemingly taken a delight and annoying and frustrating him. And yet for all that, she was perhaps the most brilliant and talented student he'd ever taught, and to ignore her words without first carefully weighing them wasn't something he would do lightly.

And however skewed by their falling-out her perspective might have been, he knew that she was right to accuse him of being ruthless, of using others, of keeping secrets. Lord only knew how well he understood that – and how much he often hated himself for it. Still, he was coming to the final test, the culmination, he hoped, of all his long labors – he couldn't fail now, and that meant he had to take every step carefully. And yet he found himself wondering just how much he could afford to follow his usual paths now. Perhaps handling this situation differently would be the right course, after all…

At the sound of footsteps, the Professor raised his head and regarded the two young women who stepped out onto the balcony with him, wearing the matching tunics of their station. Karani was taller, more classically beautiful, highly intelligent when she put her mind to it, according to her father, and of course, was the baron's natural-born daughter. It was perhaps inevitable that she would be the one to attract any visitor's eye, regardless of their purpose for being there, and leave her foster-sister in her shadow. But there was an impatience to her as well, an energy and desire to do that left little room for reflection.

Arta didn't resemble her foster-sister and was hardly likely to stand out around her, but in her Shiran also saw the quiet determination and thoughtfulness that Karani lacked. He'd seen it before, though, in another student of his years ago; Midaia's words floated back to him again. Yes, Arta had the potential to go astray, but Shiran thought that he also saw the potential to be what she had to be, for the sake of the Dozen Stars and, perhaps, for all mankind.

He kept his concerns from his face; instead, he merely smiled. "It's good to see both of you here," the Professor said. "Now, we shall begin."

/

Arta watched Karani craning her neck around to get a better look at the view as they stepped out onto the Professor's balcony; this was still part of the guest quarters, and the sisters rarely had occasion to come here. "Nice view," Karani said. "At least we won't be stuck inside."

"I prefer to teach in the world, or at least in view of it," Shiran said. "There are distractions, of course, but learning to cope with distractions is an important skill, one well worth cultivating. Take a seat, both of you," he gestured towards the chairs on the other side of his table.

The two girls did so; Arta looked over at Karani and saw that her foster-sister was already starting to fidget. She sighed under her breath and turned back to the Professor. "We're ready," she said. "What do you want to cover with us?"

"Your father called me here," the Professor said, "to help turn the two of you into part of the new generation of leaders that the Dozen Stars will need. That you will have power someday is an inevitable fact of your birth – yes, even you, Arta; even if you will not inherit, as the foster child of a planetary baron, you will move through the halls of power whether you want to or not. Your father tells me that you desire to become a knight? Then you will likely take service within the entourage of an influential lord or lady and may be called on to make significant decisions. Today's lesson will deal in what it means to have power and to use it wisely, and this is a topic to which we'll return to many times over the course of our time together."

He clasped his hands on the table in front of him. "Now, then,” the Professor said. "Can either of you tell me what it means to you to be noble?"

Karani shrugged. "Our father's a baron," she said. "That means someday I'll be baroness. That's just how it works." She frowned. "I never really thought about it before, honestly."

"I think it's about more than that," Arta said quietly. "I think it's about responsibility. If we have power, then we have to use it to take care of people who don't, to try and make the galaxy a better place than it was when we found it."

"There are many nobles who wouldn't agree with you on that," Shiran said. "Even many powerful dukes and duchesses seem to believe that their power exists only to make them rich, or to make their vision for how things should be a reality. They don't much care for the common people if they think of them at all."

"Our father isn't like that!" Karani snapped, bristling as if she'd been insulted.

"I never meant to imply he was," the Professor replied. "I was merely curious as to Arta's response about how that influences her opinion, since so few people seem to follow it. Does that make it false?"

"I don't think so," Arta said, frowning. "I guess it makes it even more important to try and do the right thing, because if you don't and nobody else does, who will?"

"An interesting response," Shiran said, regarding her shrewdly. Then his expression shifted suddenly as he began to speak again. "So, tell me, how familiar are you with our Kingdom's history?"

"We know the basics," Karani said. "Father has some books; he made us read them. Our old tutors covered it in more detail. But how does this have anything to do with what we were just talking about? Weren't we talking about leading people, not what happened hundreds of years ago?"

The Professor turned his shrewd gaze on her now. "I think you know better than that, Karani," he said. "The study of the past very often helps us illuminate the study of the present. History, they say, repeats itself; I think that may be overstating the matter. But it does, often, follow similar paths to those it's already taken."

He stood and faced away from the palace, looking out over the fields and mountains with his hands clasped behind his back. "Terra is lost," he said. "Everyone in settled space knows this. The birthplace of humanity was destroyed, or fell out of knowledge, millennia ago, and with it much of our history was lost, and there is much we don't know about our own origins. Following the loss of our homeworld, mankind fell into a great dark age, and out of it few histories have come. But a thousand years ago, a number of populated, advanced worlds came together to form a new union that would grow into a nation powerful enough to crush all of the scattered colonies of humanity under its heel."

"The Empire," Arta breathed. "Founded by Caelus Magnus and the first senate."

"Yes," Shiran confirmed. "The Empire. Originally, it was intended to be a democratic system; the senators were elected by the people, and they in turn elected the emperor, who served for life but had limited powers. But as the Empire grew stronger, more and more power was concentrated at its highest levels – first in the Senate, and then the Emperor. Senate seats became held by a handful of families, what the Empire today calls the Senatorial class or patricians; senate seats aren't hereditary but are open to so few candidates they might as well be. And the Emperor is still elected by the Senate, but the office's powers have grown so great that it is, more or less, an absolute dictatorship, with the Senate serving the Emperor's will rather than the other way around.

"For a time, the Empire ruled all mankind with an iron fist – close to five hundred years of tyranny. Eventually, however, its rulers became decadent and corrupt, and though still tyrannical, their grip on their conquered peoples began to slip. And so…"

"Artax the Founder!" Karani said excitedly. "He led the people of the Dozen Stars in revolt and started a new Kingdom!"

"He did," Shiran said. "Though the people of what would become this nation had been growing increasingly weary of Imperial control for some time before the war began, and if he had not arisen, another would have. We have a tendency, as humans, to focus too much on the actions of single great leaders, and to forget the actions on the parts of the masses necessary to bring them there. And Artax was only one of many rebel leaders who arose at that time in the outlying provinces, many of them equally successful. You have likely also heard of Mariga of Realtran, who would later be known as Mariga the Great; the Realtran Kingdom she helped to found remains the Dozen Stars’ closest ally in this region of space. The Empire survived, but its territory was halved. No longer did a single regime control all of humanity's destiny."

He paused and looked back at his students over his shoulder. "Artax intended the nobility to be merit-based," he said. "Did you know that? It’s not something the contemporary nobility of the Dozen Stars like to talk about, but it’s true. In his plan, the fact that your father is baron wouldn't have given you any power at all; a title would have to be earned and would be open to anyone. He dreamed, you see, of a Kingdom where anyone could rule, in contrast to the rigid hierarchy of the Empire."

Karani merely looked confused, but Arta frowned. "Why didn't it work out that way?" she asked. "How did we get a hereditary system instead of… that."

"Like I said, people can often put too much stock in their leaders and too little in everyone else," Shiran said. "When Artax died, the people begged his daughter to take his throne. She did, reluctantly, and that set a precedent of rule by bloodline. The dukes and barons took advantage of that precedent to pass on their titles to their descendants, and eventually, after the Sakran Reforms, it became officially the only way for titles to pass down. And like I said before, history often echoes itself. As in the Empire before us, the ruling class consolidated their power and disenfranchised everyone else. That has led, in part, to the Kingdom's current… troubles.

"However, it is also important to realize the ways in which the Dozen Stars is not the Empire. While the Emperor rules absolutely, the king or queen of our nation has always ruled jointly with the dukes of the council; this serves as a check on the monarch's unlimited power and helps prevent an absolute dictatorship. Unfortunately, with the Queen's assassination, many of the dukes have come to believe that there is no need for a single leader at all – which would leave them free to pursue their own ambitions. That, I'm afraid, could lead us very quickly into civil war."

Karani frowned. "Duke Hiram's not like that, is he?" she asked, naming the duke to whom Katanes – and their family, by extension – owed allegiance.

The Professor shook his head. "I don't know your Duke well, but my impression of him has always been that he sees himself as a businessman first and a politician second. He's good at organization and commerce, and probably wouldn't be a bad leader in times of peace – but in these times, he seems to think that if he hunkers down and tries to stay out of the political game, it won't hurt him. I think this is a naïve position to take; others certainly won't share his caution."

Arta frowned, thoughtful. "So," she said, "if the Dozen Stars does start to fight itself, what happens then? I can't imagine the other nations will just sit back and watch. And what about the Empire? Father always said they still resented that we got away. Wouldn't they want to do something about that?"

"Traditional wisdom is that the Empire wouldn't dare make such a move," Shiran said. "You've heard, of course, of the Alaelam Alliance, even though you probably don't know much about it – few people in this Kingdom do, it's so far away. The founding Alaelam prophet, Matari, preached against the Empire, and his successors – and no, they don't like the term "priest-king", something to remember if you ever meet an Alaelam; the preferred term is Disciple – have continued that message. The Alliance is one of the strongest nations in the galaxy, and traditional wisdom holds that their war with the Empire diverts most of the Empire's strength and that they are therefore not able to send their military anywhere else."

"But you don't agree," Arta said.

"Let's just say I'm suspicious," Shiran said. "I think the Empire is stronger than people give it credit for. The last few emperors in particular have been determined to restore what they see as their rightful position in the galaxy as the true government of humanity, and… well, there isn't much I'd put past them."

"Don't worry," Karani said, patting Arta's shoulder. "Even if the Empire does invade, we can take them. We did it before." As she spoke, she tossed her braid and let it catch the sunlight so that it seemed to gleam; between that and her proud expression, Arta thought it made her look like some warrior queen from an old painting. Shiran only sighed.

"You're not the first young person to speak so lightly of war, Karani," he said. "But while you haven't seen war, I have. I can only pray that it never comes to that." He fell silent, and a shadow seemed to cross his face; Arta found herself wondering again at just who this man truly was, where he had come from, and what he had seen.

"But my concerns are less with external threats and more with crisis from within," the Professor finally continued. "It is my fear that young people such as yourselves may soon be thrust into positions of leadership in perilous times, and that fact – and the fact of the heritage that makes it important – is what I wanted to impress upon you both today. Now, I would like to discuss each of the Dukes of the Dozen Stars; their personalities, policies, and recent activities, and what role I believe they may play in the events that are to come. This is information you will need to know if you are to lead your people wisely. The most important of the dukes is generally considered to be Mardoban ast Orlanes. He is, of course, the regent of the Dozen Stars in the absence of a king or queen, and therefore it falls to him to try and hold the Kingdom together for as long as possible…"

/

It felt like hours later when Shiran finished providing an exhausting account of all twelve Dukes, as well as the major barons who served under them; much of it was information Arta had already known, but she'd never covered it in such detail before. The Professor seemed to decide this was enough for the day and gestured for the sisters to depart. Karani bowed and left as quickly as decorum allowed; she looked exhausted. Arta, however, lingered, regarding the Professor as he sat in his chair and looked out over the mountains.

"Is there something you wanted to talk to me about, Arta?" he finally asked.

"Yes, if that's all right with you," she said.

Shiran turned to look at her, and she was relieved to see that he smiled. "Of course," he said. "I would be a very poor teacher if I was unwilling to answer my students' questions. But I would have thought you would, like your sister, be more interested in taking the time to rest after listening to an old man's rambling for so long. I may have been somewhat – overly detailed in my analysis."

"Well," Arta began, "it's just that… you talked about my becoming a knight. I wanted to ask you – do you really think I can do it?"

"Of course," Shiran said. "That has, I believe, traditionally been the profession of choice for young nobles before they inherit – or, like yourself, who are unlikely to inherit. But that's not what you're really asking me, is it?"

"No," she said. "I'm sure I could find a place in someone's entourage. But, do you think I have what it takes to be the sort of knight who makes a difference? The sort people always talk about in stories and…"

"A glamorous champion of justice, whose name is known across the stars?" the Professor finished, eyebrow arched.

Arta flushed and lowered her head. "I know it sounds stupid," she said. "Forget I asked."

"I don't think that," the Professor said. "I think you have talent, and drive; you're clearly not unintelligent, you seem like you believe in the Kingdom, and though I'm no swordsman myself, your father says you have talent in that area and push yourself hard. Maybe too hard." He regarded her carefully. "Why do you really want to become a great knight, Arta? Do you want to help people, fight for right causes? Or do you want to be famous, respected, not the obscure foster-daughter of a minor baron?"

Arta opened her mouth to say that of course, she wanted to help people… but then she stopped, remembering the conversation Karani had with her the night she found her training. No, Arta couldn't, in clear conscience, say that she didn't want fame, or glory. "Both, I guess," she finally said. "Maybe I just want my life to mean something."

"You're not the first to wish that," Shiran said. "I'd warn you about being careful what you wish for, but I'm afraid it would sound trite. But I will say this; there may come a time when you have to choose between the things you most desire. What you do then will determined who you really are. But I don't think a life of obscurity is something you have to fear, whatever you decide."

Arta frowned, and was about to ask him what he meant, when suddenly Shiran picked up his now-empty teacup and threw it directly at her. She gasped and stumbled back, one hand coming up instinctively in a blocking move – and when the teacup struck it, there was a sudden flash of blue light. The cup dropped and hit the balcony floor, where it shattered.

Arta held up her hand and stared at it, and Shiran smiled, though there was a flash of unease in his eyes as well that Arta barely registered. "So, it's true," he said. "You do have the gift."

"Gift?" Arta said, looking from her hands to the shattered pieces of the cup to the Professor in confusion. "What do you mean? What's going on?"

Shiran stood and began to pace. "Tell me, Arta," he said. "Do you know what an Adept is?"

"I've heard stories," she said. "People who can read minds, move things by thinking about it, that sort of thing. I never thought they were real. Is that what… this is?"

"Yes," said Shiran. "And I don't think this is the first time something like this has happened to you, is it?"

Her mind flashed back to the assassination attempt, to the energy bolt that had deflected off her hand – and she was suddenly certain, more than ever, that she and Karani hadn't imagined it. "No, it's not," she said quietly.

"I didn't think so," Shiran said. "Someone who I… know… said that you had the gift; I wanted to see it for myself if she was right. Adepts, Arta, are people born with a very rare genetic ability, or who have achieved something similar through careful cultivation of the mind and body. In ancient times on Old Terra, it was called magic; in other times and places, it's been known as ESP, or psi ability. The most common theory holds that there are… currents, of energy in the universe, and that some very rare individuals have the power to read those currents, and sometimes to manipulate them into doing what they want. According to the Church, this power comes from the Lord, and they believe that only priests and holy sisters ought to learn to use it – but this is only tradition, not law, and Adepts can come into their powers in different ways and places. At first, tapping into the power only happens by instinct – I hope you'll forgive me for startling you, there. With training, you can learn to harness it intentionally."

"And… and you're saying I could learn to be an Adept?" Arta asked, trying to get a grip again on the situation. "And you could teach me? How?"

Shiran smiled. "Didn't I mention?" he said. "I'm an Adept myself." He raised his hand, and the pieces of the teacup – limed in blue light of a slightly different shade from that Arta had somehow conjured – rose from the ground and reassembled themselves on his palm. "And yes, Arta. I won't force you, but if you want me to, I can teach you."

A part of her wanted it – desperately. And yet at the same time, there was something unsettling about the entire idea – and potentially dangerous. A flash of memory tugged again at Arta's mind, and her attempt to bring it to the fore failed. "I'll… need to think about it," she said.

"Take all the time you need," said the Professor. "I'll be here."

"Thank you," Arta said; she bowed, and turned back to the door. Before she left, however, she heard his voice say something that stopped her in her tracks.

"Your mother never realized her potential," he said, "but she had the power too."

"Wait, Professor – you knew my -?" Arta demanded, turning sharply – only to find that the balcony was empty behind her. Shiran had vanished, and she left her first lesson with more questions than answers.