Sabrina never did get to her roses that evening. It took Therenden several hours to lead her through the ramifications of the shrunken Miahn genetic pool, their current social relations with Lthos, and the Council of Zentos' outlook on things. Then they landed on the question of precisely how badly the Lthosyenne in question's heart was set on marrying Zav, and Therenden called a minor member of the Lthosyenne delegation on Praxatillus, Lady Alananria Lthairi, with whom he said he had had many interesting cultural conversations. She said she would be delighted to assist them, and arrived shortly after their call. Therenden introduced the two women to each other and briefly explained what they wanted to know. Alananria laughed.
"Oh, dear, I had no idea it was causing such consternation! Surely you know that marriage will never happen. At least, not unless the Triumvirate decides to break once and for all with the Wayfarer Homeworld. Can you imagine their reaction if one of the Triumvirate married a Miahn?"
Sabrina sat back, unsure whether to laugh or gasp in horror. "Why didn't I think of that? And you don't think the Triumvirate's contemplating a final break?"
"No, I certainly don't. And I don't think you would encourage it if they were."
"No, I wouldn't," Sabrina said.
"Well then," Alananria said. She shrugged gracefully. "This is just one of Ælieni's whims, I'm afraid. She's very taken with Zav, but it's really quite impossible, not only for the political implications, but also because I doubt he'd care to abandon his principality to live on Lthos, as he would be required to do."
"The point is," Sabrina said, "that the Council of Zentos seems to be taking Lady Ælieni's petition quite seriously."
"Doubtless," Alananria said. "Unfortunately I can't see any help for it, until Ælieni comes to her senses. It would be the greatest impertinence imaginable for me to address her on such a subject. My advice would be to introduce her to someone more charming than Prince Zav."
Sabrina threw up her hands. "This is ridiculous. I can't afford to spend my time and energy on this! It's medieval!"
Therenden chuckled. "I take it you don't think throwing Captain Devon in Lady Ælieni's path would be a good idea?"
"No I do not!" Sabrina retorted. "You can't possibly be suggesting that Scotty's more charming than Zav!"
"Not to you, I am sure," Therenden smiled. "I doubt any of my sisters would have called me charming either. Put this out of your mind, Lady Sabrina. Tell Princess Rndara that it is only to wait, and eventually Lady Ælieni will withdraw her petition. In the meantime I shall look around for someone to distract her, to speed the process."
"Thank you for your advice, Lady Alananria," Sabrina said.
"It was my pleasure." Alananria rose and smiled at Sabrina, then at Therenden. When she had left, Therenden said, "It is a shame, really, that Miahn/Lthosyenne marriages are not possible in these times."
Sabrina lifted an amused eyebrow at him. "Smitten, Therenden?"
He looked startled. "I was not speaking personally. But the Council of Zentos has a valid point. And at times in our history when relations with Homeworld have been calm, there have been several Miahns who married into Lthos, and vice versa."
"I can't have anything endangering our one line of diplomatic communication with Homeworld," Sabrina said firmly.
"Yes, I understand that," Therenden said. He hesitated. "I hear that you have recalled Ambassador Olviron from Lthos."
"Only to meet with me. I'm sure he's the best person to be there right now, with all his experience."
"He's very old, and very cautious. I doubt the two of you will find many things to agree on," Therenden warned.
Sabrina laughed. "It isn't as if I find overwhelming agreement around here, Therenden!"
"No, that is true. Though I did hear you managed to call a truce with Lady Imari. That was wise." He brightened as an idea struck him. "In fact, Lady Imari might be the one person who could hint to Lady Ælieni that Prince Zav is not suited to her position."
"My mind boggles at even attempting to ask Imari to do any such thing!" Sabrina exclaimed. "Besides, she probably agrees with the Council of Zentos." She drummed her fingers on the table for a moment. "Therenden, you've seen a lot more of Lady Ælieni than I have. Do you suppose if I sent Prince Zav off on some kind of mission, she'd forget him?"
"Perhaps." He paused. "It might also speed her departure. I admit, I am uneasy about having one of the Triumvirate here, with the possibility that Homeworld will discover Wayship Khediva and attack us at any time."
"God, yes. That's all we'd need, to be calling Lthos and apologizing for turning their Triumvirate into a duo. That settles it. I'll talk to Rayland about making some work for Zav, and we'll have to hope Lady Ælieni is easily bored."
Therenden smiled. "I'll see if Lady Alananria can help encourage her to go."
Sabrina grinned. "You do make the most useful friends, don't you, Therenden?"
"It is my particular talent, my lady. I wish I could pride myself on my foresight in befriending you, but alas, that was merely a self-indulgence that has come to good." He executed a graceful bow and departed after they exchanged good-nights.
__________________
Sabrina went straight to bed, hoping she would fall asleep before her mind could start spinning with all the myriad problems confronting her. It seemed that every time she identified a problem and started to deal with it, someone pointed out six related issues she hadn't even thought of. But at least I have a Mistress of the Household now, she thought, yawning.
Much later, she woke out of a troubled dream that fled as she blinked against a sudden onslaught of light. She was startled and alarmed to see her bodyguard standing beside the bed, pale and grim. Darice said, "My lady, we've received a distress call from Wayship Khediva. They want you in Control."
Sabrina bolted upright, taking in Darice's disheveled uniform, obviously thrown on in haste. As she jumped out of bed, Izana ran in, wearing a robe and mismatched slippers, and dove into the vast closet. By the time Sabrina had made it to her dressing table, Izana had emerged with the simplest mourning dress in the wardrobe. Sabrina threw herself into it and brushed her hair while Izana did the fastenings. "Let's go," she said to Darice.
Darice nodded, and Sabrina followed her at a fast jog down to Defense Control. Rayland and Mukryilla had their heads together in a low-voiced, tense conversation; Sabrina didn't see anybody else she knew. "What's happened?" she demanded, laying a hand on Rayland's sleeve.
"It is a general distress call from Khediva. We have no more information at this time but are attempting to pinpoint the coordinates," Rayland told her.
Sabrina felt her insides gel in terror. "The distress call is ongoing? It wasn't cut off?"
"It lasted precisely six point three seconds," Mukryilla told her grimly.
Sabrina clasped her hands tightly in front of her, trying to hide her sudden shaking. "What's... Is there anything happening in Giandrah?"
Mukryilla and Rayland exchanged glances, and Rayland said, "We don't know yet. There is no response from the Chamber."
Sabrina half-turned in a blind impulse to go see for herself, but Rayland stopped her. "We have sent a team to investigate," he said. "There is nothing we can do but wait."
"Oh, God," Sabrina breathed, pressing her hands against her mouth.
Rayland looked around as Mukryilla turned back to her console. Everyone was busy, so he took Sabrina's arm and said gently, "You must keep your composure. You are the leader here; you must not add to our problems by giving way to fear."
Sabrina sucked in a deep, painful breath and forced her hands to her sides, nodding once. "Where's Scotty?"
"On assignment in Bathir. I thought it would be better to wait to summon him until we have some further information," Rayland said. "Unless you need him for support?"
"No," she said. "No, I'm all right now. How long will it take for your team to report from Giandrah?"
"A few more minutes," Rayland said. "But there is no Transference; we would have felt the tremors by now. Maratobia, at least, is alive."
Sabrina nodded again. "I think we had better put the entire solar system on alert. If they've got Khediva, they mi—"
She broke off in mid-word as a moment of dizziness hit her. An instant later she realized it was the familiar disorientation of transport, and she spun around, hands up to repel attack, even as she identified her new surroundings.
"I'm sorry," Mara's voice said, off to one side. Sabrina turned again, still tense, and was relieved to find Mara alone and not with a gun to her head. "I had to talk to you and I couldn't risk revealing our location, and I couldn't leave Tirqwin and Khediva, even long enough to go to Praxatillus. I'll put you back at the same time I took you, so they shouldn't even notice you're gone."
"Rayland will. I was in the middle of issuing a system-wide alert," Sabrina said testily. Then her brain finished absorbing her friend's appearance. "Mara! Are you all right?"
"Yes," Mara said, raking a hand through her disheveled hair. "Oh, Sabrina."
Sabrina saw there were tearstains on Mara's face and threw her arms around her. "Mara, what happened? Is Tirqwin all right? Khediva? She looks okay."
"I am fine," Khediva said in a weary voice.
"What was the distress call about then?" Sabrina demanded. "The whole of Dansestari's in a panic! Mara, what happened?" She narrowly refrained from shaking the Queen.
"If you will allow her to talk," Khediva said, "you might find out."
Sabrina opened her mouth to say something unwise, then shut it with a snap. Mara hugged her again, then sank onto one of the benches. "Homeworld will know that Khediva is alive now, but we couldn't think of anything else to do, and even that may be in vain—oh, Sabrina, why? Why can't we ever have any peace, any rest?"
"It's all right, Mara. Homeworld was going to find out sometime. It might as well be now," Sabrina said. "We've been planning for it; we're ready. But why the distress call?"
"It was Malvarak," Mara said, her voice shaking.
Sabrina sat down beside her and made a real effort to calm herself down. If she were going to be any help to Mara—not to mention Tirqwin—she would have to first get herself under control. "Where did you meet him?" she asked.
"In the Outer Rim. I can't remember the planet's name," Mara said helplessly. "Sabrina, it's true, he's got Sribarak's shell and he's modified it somehow, put an artificial brain in it or something, to travel Ways. And he's mad, absolutely mad, and he thinks it's our fault Sribarak is dead and he wants to kill us!"
Sabrina took the distraught Queen in her arms and stroked her tangled hair. "It wasn't your fault, Mara, you know it wasn't. It was nobody's fault but Emalicia's and that awful creature's. They killed Sribarak. You tried to save him. You tried your best. I saw you."
"It doesn't matter. He still wants to kill us, to make us suffer. Oh, Sabrina, he killed my father! And if he kills Tirqwin too, I can't bear it. I can't bear it."
"He won't kill Tirqwin while you're here protecting him, and you can be here to do that as long as you need to. I've got things under control at home." She hoped she wasn't lying. "I know it must have been awful, Mara, but you can't blame yourself. I'm sure you did what you could to help him."
"Only Homeworld can help him now," Mara sighed, sitting back. "That was why we sent the distress call, so they could locate him. I only hope they did. We barely managed to get away; Khediva saw another Wayship emerging just as she opened the Way."
"I'm sure they got him," Sabrina soothed. "You don't need to worry about that."
"I'm not." Mara's tone was brittle. "I'm worried about Tirqwin."
"Where is he?" Sabrina asked, looking around.
Mara shook her head, swallowing. Then she burst out, "He won't even let me heal him! Sabrina, make him come out. I've tried and tried and he won't even listen to Khediva!"
I should have known it was something like this, Sabrina thought with a sigh. Mara didn't call me just to talk. "Let me guess. He's busy flagellating himself over this?"
"I don't know. It's worse than that this time, I think. He...he went over to try to talk to Malvarak. He shut me out. He came back all bloody and grim, and he wouldn't even talk. He just ordered Khediva to make the distress call. And then he went into his room."
Sabrina gave another sigh, this one strictly in her head. "It might be better to let him be for now, Mara."
"Sabrina, he's in pain. I can't just let him be!"
"Okay, okay. Don't cry. Look, why don't you go wash your face and brush your hair, and then you can come rescue me. I'll stop by the infirmary and get some things, and then I'll storm the fortress." Sabrina patted her shoulder, and Mara got up and walked slowly out of the room, her shoulders in an uncharacteristic slump.
"Khediva?" Sabrina said quietly.
"Yes, Sabrina?"
"What do you think?"
"I have been arguing with him—or attempting to. He does not respond. I think you had better go and stop the bleeding, at any rate."
"Are you all right?"
"Yes. It is only...seeing Sribarak's shell used like that. Such a degradation for such a noble Wayship. He deserved an honorable end." Khediva's voice was filled with unaccustomed emotion.
"And he will have it, Khediva. This won't go on forever. Sooner or later Homeworld will catch up to Malvarak."
Sabrina got up and went to the infirmary. Everything was in its proper place, and it only took moments to grab the emergency medkit on the wall by the door. "Okay," Sabrina said. "Can you get me in?"
"I will open the door when you reach it," Khediva promised.
"Why couldn't you just do that for Mara? Come to think of it, she could have just popped in!" Sabrina said.
"She is too upset to calm him," Khediva said. "We both knew it. She has not yet mastered the art of swallowing her emotions, as you have. Though," the Wayship added dryly, "I do sometimes wonder when you will find you have swallowed one too many. I am sure it will not be a pleasant episode."
"Don't worry, I'm sure I can arrange to have my nervous breakdown on Praxatillus rather than aboard you," Sabrina retorted. "Okay."