A rainbow of light splashed the stone floor of the assembly hall of the Corweign Military Academy at Dansestari, its edges spilling onto the first rows of the audience gathered there. Sabrina Devon looked up at the colored glass windows and smiled, glad for the cheerful weather. She had hoped everything today would be perfect, and as the last strains of the military march faded in the echoing hall, she felt that it was.
The graduating cadets were standing in the center of the hall, about a hundred of them, while their families and friends looked on from seats placed at the sides of the hall, facing inward. It was a room full of exuberance and hope. In a way, Sabrina thought, it was a fitting sequel to the last time she had been in this room, singing to her dead adopted father and his people of commitment and courage. At Rayland's funeral, she had passed his saber, as Regent, to the woman who had succeeded him, but today she was a mere onlooker as her brother, Rayland's chosen son, having given one life to Praxatillus, committed his second to the same path.
Sabrina's attention came back to the present as Maratobia, Queen of Praxatillus, began speaking from the dais. It was not unheard of for her to address assemblies such as this, but only a deep personal commitment could have led her to make a long, grueling official appearance when she was in daily expectation of giving birth to the long-awaited Inheritor. The speech sounded less spontaneous than most of Mara's public addresses, and Sabrina thought she could hear fatigue in her friend's voice. But, as always when on display, the Queen looked composed, content to be where she was.
Sabrina had been delighted to discover that Mara was pregnant, secretly cherishing the hope that this time she could play the role denied to her with Mara's other children because of her stay on Earth. But Mara's rigorous schedule had prevented that to a large extent, and after the Great Crystal of Miah revealed that this child would be the longed-for Inheritor, Sabrina had hardly been able to get near her friend. The Miahns were ecstatic at the advent of the next Guardian, after two hundred years without an Inheritor—for most of Mara's time as Inheritor had been spent as a captive of the Xoentrol invaders. This child, it was resolved, would have a much brighter beginning. Mara was surrounded by well-wishers and courtiers jostling for positions in the Inheritor's household, which would necessarily be more extensive than those of the other royal children.
So Sabrina had surrendered her hopes of becoming Mara's caretaker again, just as she had resigned herself to a lesser role in her brother's new life. He had been happy living with Lord Leran and Lady Selémahs, not to mention their daughter Aurora, while he worked hard to fill the gaps in his education, if not his memories. His progress had been astonishing, enabling him to fit in several months of active service as part of his term at the Academy after completing his coursework in record time. He'd exceeded everyone's expectations, rewarding the enormous collective effort that had made this new life possible.
It really had been a group effort, Sabrina reflected wryly, remembering a rare complaint by Scotty of being "everybody's pet project." Of course, everyone's life was affected by nearly everyone they encountered, but usually a fairly small group was responsible for shaping a character. Once upon a time, she would have said her parents and herself were Scotty's main influences, with the addition of their Aunt Euphrasia, who'd been their guardian since their parents' death when Scotty was fourteen, and a few teachers and commanding officers along the way.
Now Scotty had an additional parent—Tirqwin, who had donated genetic material when Scotty's own was damaged beyond hope of repair and had overseen the reconstruction of his body, not to mention the restoration of his fragmented memories. And Leran and Selémahs had become surrogate parents, absorbing him into their family seamlessly. Planetary Defense Commander Treva nar Mukryilla, Rayland's successor, had also had a firm hand in Scotty's re-education, besides telling him endless stories of Rayland until Sabrina thought he knew more about their adopted father than he remembered about their original parents.
And, most absorbingly, it looked as if Scotty might be about to begin his own family. Aurora did not live with her parents, but she visited often, and her gentle affection had won Scotty's heart completely. It was an open secret at court, generally regarded as a brilliant match for him and a respectable one for her. Aurora was the last heir of the Family Daroun, in addition to being a Ruschar, one of the great Miahn families. Scotty was the adopted son of a revered hero, looked on by the Queen as a brother, and the genetic son of the Queen's consort. And a hero in his own right, though most of the best examples of that were classified, Sabrina reflected wryly.
Mara had finished congratulating and admonishing the graduates, and the long process of summoning each of them to the dais to receive their diplomas and insignia had begun. Sabrina shifted a little in her chair, trying to get comfortable, and sent a glance of apology to Tirqwin, whom she accidentally bumped in the process. He smiled down at her serenely, and she bit back a question about how tired Mara looked. Tirqwin would know through their link if anything was seriously the matter, and he wouldn't look so happy if there were. She smiled back at him, feeling a sudden rush of gratitude and affection. Scotty might be Tirqwin's genetic son, but Sabrina was his daughter in spirit, bound by their unavoidable mutual exclusion from the close community of the Miahns.
She had found a surrogate family too, she realized. Scotty had been informally adopted by the Ruschars, but she had been embraced by Mara's children. Her namesake Marie, just heading into the turbulence of adolescence, was the younger sister Sabrina had always wanted. Mirann, Kalira, and Shorkaz, the family mischief-makers, were her friends and allies. The Heir, Baldaran, was always ready with advice when she needed it. And then there was Ford.
He was mostly called by his birth name, Niavar, here, but she could never think of him by any name but his alias. She suspected he preferred it that way, even though it had caused her to make several gaffes on official occasions. She glanced over at him, sitting between her and Aurora; they had arranged themselves by preference rather than rank today, attending as family rather than officially. She often wondered what Ford thought of Scotty and Aurora's close relationship; Aurora had been Ford's companion and closest friend throughout their childhood, and it had been widely speculated that they would marry throughout their adulthood. But Ford seemed content to tease Aurora about what he called her penchant for the military, while Sabrina became his confidante.
Ford felt her gaze and looked at her inquiringly. She smiled a little and gave a tiny shrug, embarrassed; that made him grin. He leaned over and whispered into her ear. "I know you promised Scotty you weren't going to cry, but I brought half a dozen handkerchiefs, just in case."
Sabrina bit back a laugh and elbowed him back into his own seat. It wasn't long afterward that Scotty's name was called. The graduates were summoned in alphabetical order, and they had decided some time back to eliminate the awkward hyphenated form of their Earth family name they'd been using here on Praxatillus. Miahns took the name of their mother's family, and when Rayland adopted Sabrina and Scotty they had been adamant about not giving up their father's name, so a compromise had been reached. They had been officially known as Sabrina and Scotty ya Tassan nar Hamilton-Devon ever since. But they still thought of themselves as just Devons, so when Scotty passed his entrance exams and was admitted to the academy, they had decided to change the name to ya Tassan nar Devon. So today he would receive his commission as Lieutenant Devon instead of Lieutenant Hamilton-Devon, which everyone agreed was a mouthful.
Scotty strode up to the dais radiating self-assurance, perfectly at home in his surroundings. He was no longer the reckless youth Sabrina remembered so well from their first stay on Praxatillus, either in body or in spirit. He was still tall, but no longer lanky; his dark hair was cut short and always seemed in place. His eyes were still baby blue, and still glinted with mischief, but more rarely; and the infamous grin was still there, though Sabrina often suspected he now used it more for effect than as a real expression. In his dress uniform, he looked every inch the perfect Miahn officer, indistinguishable in bearing and attitude from his fellow cadets.
But he was special, and even this part of the ceremony pointed it out. Commander Mukryilla was handing out the diplomas today, a rare but not unprecedented event, but Scotty got a special smile along with the handshake. And after he saluted the Queen, she extended a hand to him. He bowed over it with a flourish, and Mara grinned at him, mirroring the expression Sabrina couldn't see but was certain Scotty wore.
It struck her, with a pang, that Mara and Scotty now looked far more like siblings than she and Scotty did, with their dark hair and the serene air that characterized Miahns. Scotty wasn't one, but he lived in their world and shared some of the same genes, since Tirqwin, a Wayfarer, was genetically linked, however distantly, to the Miahn race. Or maybe it was the longevity, Sabrina thought. Scotty could now expect to live three, maybe four times as long as a human. He would not look very much older than he did now when she became an old woman.
Tirqwin took her hand in his and held it there, resting on his knee, and she wondered if he meant it in comfort or congratulation. Perhaps both. They watched Scotty descend from the dais and wave his diploma at Leran and Selémahs, who had been his tutors before he entered the academy. That was traditional; so was the kiss he blew to Aurora. But the thumbs-up sign he gave Sabrina, accompanied by his trademark grin, was all his own. She blinked in surprise, unable to respond before he turned to go back to his seat. Something soft was pushed into her free hand, and she looked down to find a handkerchief there even as the tears welled up.
Dabbing quickly at her eyes, she glanced over at Ford again. He leaned over and whispered, "This means they're going to give him a real gun. I think we should leave the planet as soon as possible."
She nearly choked trying not to laugh.
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The ceremony ended with a triumphant shout by the graduates. Sabrina had a vision of caps flying into the air, but she knew that would have been too disorderly a celebration for Praxatillus. She remembered that Scotty had thrown his at his graduation on Earth and never found it again. Not that he had cared.
The graduates dispersed, running to their respective families to have their new insignia affixed to their uniforms. Scotty plowed his way through the crowd toward them and grabbed each in a bear hug, then hesitated, looking nonplussed. Sabrina suddenly realized that he had no idea whom to ask to pin on his insignia without offending someone else. She laid a hand on his shoulder and spoke quietly into his ear so she could be heard above the din. "I did it last time. Ask Aurora," she told him.
He smiled at her. "I'm glad you got to do it once, Rina," he replied. "Thanks."
Sabrina's smile was a little more genuine as she watched him nervously approach Aurora. This was tantamount to a public declaration, she realized, and was relieved when Aurora, after glancing at her parents, took the insignia with a smile, affixed them to his uniform, and kissed him on the cheek. Scotty fairly glowed with happiness.
"You realize what this means, don't you?" Ford said.
She turned, puzzled, to assure him that she did, and then saw that he was teasing her. She raised an eyebrow, and he grinned. "It means their children are going to be absolutely unstoppable. I think we should cut our family ties and run now."
Sabrina laughed. "No thanks. I want to be here to see it. Though I'm afraid you're probably right!" Scotty still had all his old stubbornness, now made more daunting by maturity, and Aurora had a distinct knack for gracefully, subtly achieving her own ends under any circumstances.
Ford was about to make another remark when Tirqwin suddenly grasped his shoulder. "Niavar. Help me get your mother out of here. It is time."
Sabrina started to follow them, but Ford said, "Stay here and enjoy it, Sabrina. It won't happen instantly, and we can't all leave."
"But—" She broke off as he and Tirqwin moved out of earshot.