Image: Rayland nar Tassan, by D. Denise Dianaty
Sabrina met briefly with Rayland, to confirm her and Scotty's acceptance of the adoption contract; then she hurried to her office and worked rather distractedly for a few hours until lunch, which she shared with Rayland and Scotty. Then it was time to dress for the Council of Ministers. Selémahs, who had been apprised of the situation by Mara, helped Sabrina pick out a very simple white dress with fitted sleeves, a high collar, and a narrow skirt. She wore her hair down, held back from her face with a white ribbon.
Selémahs went with her to the antechamber of the room in which the Council was convened; Scotty was waiting there, dressed in a white long-sleeved shirt, trousers, and mid-calf soft boots. In a few moments, they were summoned inside.
It seemed that most of the court was there. Sabrina saw Mara and Tirqwin, the only people besides the Council who were seated; she also picked out Therenden in the crowd. He smiled encouragingly at her.
Beside the long table at which the Council sat, Prime Minister Rassir stood with Rayland, who was splendid in his family colors of scarlet and gold. Each of them held a rolled-up parchment tied with scarlet ribbon. Rayland came forward and said in a clear, steady voice, "You have come here to enter into legal bonds of heirship with me in front of witnesses. You are aware of your obligations?"
Sabrina and Scotty said, "Yes." Sabrina thought, I wonder if that clause would have let me out of the regency if I hadn't known.
"Then we shall all signify our consent by signing the contract." Rayland laid the parchment on the nearby table and signed, then handed the pen to Sabrina. She signed, working slowly through the unfamiliar Miahn form, and then watched as Scotty did the same.
The room was so quiet that she could hear the pen scratch on the parchment, and she thought everyone else heard it too. Somehow it seemed so much more irrevocable than her spoken oath to Mara had been. In a way, it was: she could be released from her oath, but she could never be un-adopted.
Then the siblings faced Rayland. He was smiling in a solemn way, pleased and yet slightly distracted, as if aware of ghosts at his shoulder. Sabrina wondered who they all were, how many faces made up the list of losses that had led him to this desperate step. She wondered if any of them would have welcomed her and Scotty.
There was a stir of movement to Sabrina's left, and a man stepped forward, formally dressed, carrying a carefully folded pile of heavy scarlet and gold cloth. He had jet black hair, almost the shade of Mara's, and rich brown eyes that stood out against his pale complexion, the kind Sabrina had come to associate with people who spent most of their time in space. He had a military bearing and the brooding air she had noticed among some of the people who had lost their entire families in the war.
When he spoke, his voice was low but strong, and though there was no real feeling in the words there didn't seem to be reluctance in them either. "I, Miosch Kirak ya Sansfir nar Loär, heir by right of blood to Rayland Tresmanorak ya yel Elzhbehette nar Tassan, acknowledge you as his daughter, by his choice. Welcome, kinswoman."
He bowed his head, then turned to Rayland, who picked it up to reveal a sleeveless robe. Rayland helped Sabrina into it, and Miosch belted the matching gold sash around her waist. Then Rayland said, "I give you this in token of my pledge to shelter, feed, and clothe you as my own child. From henceforth you shall bear not only my name, but all the hopes of my heart, and the hopes and heritage of all those who have come before me."
Sabrina curtsied, careful of the stiff overdress, and replied, "I give you my pledge to honor and obey you as a loyal daughter, to never bring shame to the name that is your gift to me, and to be a comfort and a help to you in all that you do. In doing so I honor not only my new family, but those whose blood I bear."
Rayland kissed her forehead. "Welcome, daughter of my heart."
"Thank you, father," she replied. He smiled at her before turning to Scotty, and Sabrina somehow managed to keep the tears from her eyes until he could not see them. She thought of her real father, and wondered what he would have thought and felt about this. She wondered whether she would have been a disappointment to him, or whether he would have seen reason to be proud in having raised a daughter found worthy of being the heir to a man respected on a dozen planets and more.
Don't cry, she told herself sternly. They might take it the wrong way. He might take it the wrong way. Think of something cheerful. She looked over at Miosch and remembered that she was expected, by tradition, to marry him. He did not look like a happy person, or an easy one to know, she thought.
Beside her, Scotty was going through the same actions and phrases, but the woman who had handed Rayland the robe, Sabrina was surprised and a little worried to note, was Imari. The First Chair of the Council of Trême did not look at all happy, but she spoke the ritual acknowledgment calmly. Scotty looked unnerved to his sister's knowing eye, but he stood straight and still and managed to get all his lines right. He looked younger than he had since they had come to live on Praxatillus, she thought. She wondered why she should feel as though she had failed her brother by not being able to provide the guidance a father should have given him. Or perhaps she only felt guilty for not having realized that he missed it so badly.
Rayland kissed Scotty's forehead and said, "Welcome, son of my heart."
"Thank you, father," Scotty replied. Sabrina realized with a shock that her brother had spoken Praxatillian throughout, instead of relying on Khediva's or Mara's translation. It was the first time she had ever heard him do so, though she had been speaking the language as much as she could since taking control of Mara's household.
The ceremony all but over, Scotty relaxed under Rayland's approving gaze. Sabrina felt relieved. Whatever happened to her, Scotty would be safe, emotionally and mentally, in Rayland's care.
Everybody's okay but me, she thought, glancing over to where Mara and Tirqwin sat, and I'm about to get a big target painted on my back. But if that enabled Mara, Tirqwin, Khediva, and Scotty to be better off, then she must accept it.
Rayland took her hand in his free one and nodded for Scotty to stand at the side of the arm that held his cane, and they walked over to Mara and Tirqwin, with Miosch and Imari trailing.
"Your Majesty," Rayland said with grave formality, "I beg your permission to present to you my daughter, Sabrina Marie ya Tassan nar Hamilton-Devon, and my son, Scott Hamilton ya Tassan nar Hamilton-Devon. Will you accept the reaffirmation of their oaths of fealty?"
"We shall," Mara replied.
Sabrina curtsied and said, "Your Majesty, my Lord Consort, I renew my pledge to you of loyalty and service, in the tradition of my father and my family."
Sabrina saw the little flurry that went through the crowd as she included Tirqwin in her reaffirmation; it was unusual to swear fealty to a consort who held no official authority. But it was important to her that he be included, not only to highlight his position as Mara's husband, but to acknowledge the friendship and respect that bound them.
"And we renew our pledge to provide for you and use your service wisely," Mara replied, smiling. "Welcome, cousin." Then she looked over at Tirqwin and squeezed his hand where it lay under hers on the arm of his chair. He looked at her, then at Sabrina, and said, smiling, "Welcome, cousin."
Scotty recited the same pledge, with Mara and Tirqwin making the same answer. Sabrina felt proud and relieved that her brother had followed her lead; he must have realized how important it was that Tirqwin not feel left out of this particular ceremony. It was important to Mara too, she knew, as she saw the glow in the Queen's violet eyes. Tirqwin's expression was almost wry, which puzzled and hurt Sabrina until she realized that he was unable to accept any gift of hers without remembering the one she had not wanted to give.
And it was now time to give that gift, here in front of the entire court, all the people who would owe her the allegiance they had sworn to Mara, though they certainly had not sworn it with any idea that it would someday apply to Sabrina.
Rayland, Imari, and Miosch withdrew to stand with the others in the audience. Rassir came forward, and behind him, the Council of Ministers stood. Sabrina noticed Mukryilla, in full dress uniform, with Rayland's saber hanging at her hip, and Minister Ptelkar, the Minister of Justice; the others she couldn't readily identify. She saw their withdrawn expressions and knew that being regent would be no easy task.
Rassir spoke loudly, for everyone to hear. "Her Majesty the Queen finds it necessary to leave us for a time, in the interest of her subjects as well as herself. But before she leaves us, she wishes to show her great concern for us by entrusting her duties to someone she deems worthy to carry them out. Your Majesty, will you summon your chosen regent?"
There was a tense moment of silence. Then Mara said, "My people, it is not an easy thing to leave. Though I believe it to be the best way I can serve you at this time, I could not do it without absolute confidence in the person I have chosen to be regent in my absence. I leave you in the care of a woman educated as I was, with a clear, strong mind, a pure spirit, and the heart of a heroine. She has accepted the regency against her own inclination, and solely out of her desire to serve me, and through me, all my people."
Sabrina glanced at Scotty to see if he had any suspicions. He was standing beside her uncertainly, as if expecting someone to demand what he was doing there.
"I call upon her now to take the Regent's Oath before you all," Mara said. "Step forward, Sabrina Marie ya Tassan nar Hamilton-Devon."
Sabrina heard Scotty's intake of breath and suppressed a grim smile. The audience, most of whom had caught rumors of this beforehand, stirred restlessly, but there was no outcry to justify Sabrina's nightmares.
"Cousin," Mara said, when Sabrina was facing her again, "I entrust you with the authority and duties of the leader of Praxatillus, including and especially the safety and care of its citizens. You will speak with my voice and stand in my place. Do you swear, on the Trees, to rule to the best of your ability and to yield your place back to me when I call upon you to do so?"
"By the eternal Trees, I swear," Sabrina said.
Rassir rolled out the regency contract on the table, and Sabrina signed at the bottom. Rassir then carried the parchment to Mara, who affixed her seal to it and handed it to Sabrina. Sabrina's hand shook slightly as she took the parchment, and she hoped no one but Mara noticed.
Then she had to face the court, a collection of dismayed, worried, and frankly outraged expressions, with the heartening exceptions of Rayland and Therenden. She tried to focus on them as she recited the Regent's Oath: "I, Sabrina Marie ya Tassan nar Hamilton-Devon, appointed Regent of Praxatillus by Queen Maratobia, hereby swear to uphold the laws and customs of Praxatillus. I will not misuse my power for personal gain. I will turn no citizen in need from my door, and I will protect the people of Praxatillus to the best of my ability. I will rule in the spirit of the Queen in whose place I stand and yield her throne back to her promptly and willingly when she calls upon me to do so. This I swear by the Trees in the presence of this assembly."
Mara said, "As of this moment, all oaths of fealty and service sworn to me are transferred to the Lady Regent."
There was another silent moment. Sabrina held her breath, agonized, as she waited for the traditional response to be given. It would not be appropriate for Mara, Tirqwin, Scotty, or Rayland to give it first; someone outside their family had to be the first for it to have any validity.
It was Mukryilla who said, quite loudly and clearly, "Hail the Lady Regent!"
Sabrina closed her eyes in relief as other voices began to echo the hail, some with marked reluctance and others in resignation, but saying the words, accepting her, nonetheless. Out of the corner of her eye she saw Mara's white-knuckled grip on her chair relax, and heard Scotty start to breathe again beside her.
When everyone in the hall had given the hail, Mara and Tirqwin rose and walked the few steps to Sabrina. Mara embraced her and said, for everyone to hear, "Thank you, cousin."
"I'll do my best," Sabrina replied.
"I know you will. And I also know how good your best is. It will suffice," Mara smiled.
Tirqwin embraced Sabrina and smiled down at her encouragingly. "You have often surprised me; I know you will surprise everyone else as well."
"Yes," Sabrina said, "but I don't think they like surprises."
Tirqwin grinned and opened his mouth to speak; then, abruptly, his expression changed, and he started to turn to Mara. Out of the corner of her eye, Sabrina saw a flash of purple silk, as if Mara had raised her arm, and then the couple were gone. Simultaneously, every comlink in the room pinged urgently, and a soft chime filled the room.
"Aw, hell!" Scotty said. "Red alert."