The next morning, a timid shaft of sunlight crept across Sabrina's bed, causing her to groan and fling her arm over her face.
"Ambassador?" Thad whispered.
"Huh?"
"Are you awake?"
"I don't know. I think I might be dead. Is it still snowing?"
"I'm so sorry. I didn't realize you were drinking intoxicants, or I wouldn't have given you that medicine."
"Oh God. I passed out, didn't I? Right in the middle of the party!"
"You, ah, did it very gracefully," Thad said encouragingly. "You just swayed out of your chair like a wilting flower."
"Oh God. I'm disgraced forever." Sabrina covered her face with both hands. "I can die of humiliation now."
"Actually his royal highness explained to everyone how hard you had been working and how important the treaty was to you, and he apologized for thoughtlessly pushing you into exhaustion by insisting on dancing the trajeen."
"Oh good. Not fatally humiliated, just pathetic," she moaned.
"It could have been worse," Thad insisted. "Your dress cushioned your fall. Um, there was so much of it that I had to help his royal highness with it while he carried you up to your room."
"Pathetic and helpless."
"The first lady thought it was terribly romantic."
"Pathetic, helpless, and idiotic."
"Oh, I should also mention that his royal highness also explained that the word 'shit' is an ancient Bahgheiran accolade."
"Introducing gratuitous English profanities into common usage on other planets under false pretenses. Lovely. I've now sinned not only against protocol, but linguistics."
When she finally brought herself to look at Thad, he had his grin under control. "I do apologize, Ambassador. You've never drunk intoxicants before. I didn't know."
"I didn't either," Sabrina said. "Relax, Thad. It wasn't your fault. Just more proof that I did something truly horrific in a past life. As if I needed further evidence." She decided to attempt to sit.
"The doctor said you would need to avoid putting weight on your knee for a few days," Thad said. "I've spoken to our transport's captain; he says he'll have no problem doing a few extra orbits until we're ready. Apparently he was told not to come home without us."
"Well, my brother does have military connections," Sabrina sighed, shoving a pillow behind her to support herself as she tried to find a comfortable sitting position. "But I don't see why we should wait. I can rest aboard ship as easily as I can here."
"But you haven't made your final leave-taking calls," Thad protested.
"Make Ford do them."
"He's already doing the rounds," Thad said, "but he can't take leave for you. I checked. Meskathan protocol demands the ambassador do it in person."
"Thad."
"Yes?"
"Make a note. Don't talk to me anymore about Meskathan protocol. And further, next time I agree to dance with Ford, shoot me before I make a fool of myself again."
"Certainly, Ambassador. I will make sure my notes are in order for just such an event, since obviously I will have no choice after shooting you but to turn the weapon against myself."
"Thad! You're learning sarcasm! I'm so proud of you!"
"That was not sarcastic. It was merely realistic," he informed her, grinning. "Would you like breakfast? I can bring something to you."
"What I would like," Sabrina said, "is Ranja to help me get bathed and dressed so I can deal with the aftermath of my temporary insanity."
"Certainly. Oh. Here." Thad handed her a small box.
"What is it?" Sabrina asked, eyeing it warily.
"His royal highness instructed me to make sure you had some chocolate before he comes to see you."
Sabrina snorted.
——————————-
As it happened, by the time Sabrina had endured formal visits from half a dozen ministers, she was almost relieved to see Ford. She was trying out the cane Thad had brought her, much to her disgruntlement, and looked up at the chuckle Ford let out from the doorway.
"If you dare laugh at me—" she snarled.
"I wasn't. I was laughing at myself, when I realized that in thirty years or so, I'm going to be every bit as terrified of you as I am of Aunt Imari."
"You should be more terrified of me now," Sabrina said. "Imari is highly unlikely to shove you out an airlock on our way back to Praxatillus."
"So are you, if only because it would ruin the wedding."
"Is that why you were determined to make a spectacle of yourself last night? So I couldn't arrange your convenient disappearance in deep space?"
Ford grinned. "A tempting excuse, but no. I was merely bored. Besides, last night you had no reason to murder me."
"True. If I were going to murder you for acting like a jackass, I would have done it years ago. Turning the pinnacle of my career into a fiasco warrants a much more devious and insidious revenge."
He held his hands up in mock surrender. "I am entirely innocent of the painkiller confusion. At first, I admit, I wondered if you were shamming it to divert attention from me. Then I realized I was confusing you with my sister Mira."
"So nice that you think so well of me," Sabrina gritted out, lowering herself into a chair.
"Don't I get any credit for spending my morning talking to very dull people and convincing them to come to you instead of you hobbling to them?"
"Not when the end result was that I spent my morning listening to very dull people talk about how wonderful you are."
"Tortuous, I'm sure. You must have ground your teeth trying not to set them straight."
Sabrina thumped her cane on the floor in frustration. "Stop that. I'm sick of you acting like this. You are a wonderful person, when I can see around that chip on your shoulder. I do not forget for a second that the only reason Scotty is alive is that you put yourself in ongoing danger by submitting to Homeworld. It's not his fault that he's happy and you've suffered horribly. And it's not mine either. When you remember that—"
"You think I don't already know it?"
"Then act like it!"
"You don't have the first idea of what I've gone through!" he growled.
"It's not my fault that I don't! I did everything I could, Ford. I couldn't even sit up in bed yet when I was begging Kashmia to intercede with Imari and let me see you!"
"And then, having set your conscience to rest, you went off on vacation, while I was—" He broke off, his face flushed with anger. "Forget it."
"I would have traded places with you—"
"No you wouldn't!" he roared, clenching his fists. "You don't have the first idea what you're talking about, Sabrina, so just stop!"
Sabrina sat up straight, gripping her cane and trying to breathe rather than sob. After a moment, she said, "You don't think I was angry? Because I was. I'm not stupid. I could see what it came down to: they wanted to destroy our link completely. You don't think I fought that? I could've helped you. I know I could have. Tirqwin made me so angry when he explained that you had to be removed from my influence that I wanted to hurt him. I wanted nothing more to do with anybody on Praxatillus after that. I had to go away, Ford. It wasn't about abandoning you. I just...I had no hope of being able to help you, so I had to help myself. It was the only thing I could do."
Ford stared at her incredulously.
"Why do you think I've been offworld so much since I came back? I hate that they claim to be my family and yet they'll never really accept me as one of them. I feel like the poor little orphan girl they give charity to so they can pat themselves on the back about it, and then I feel terrible because I know it's not really that way. Scotty has all the acceptance and status I'll never have, and I work hard at not resenting that. You have it, and you throw it away. But I'll always be an outcast." Her mouth twisted, and she realized she was going to cry if she didn't change the subject. "Anyway, I still have people to call on today, if you'll excuse me."
She thumped her way awkwardly out of the room in the ensuing silence.
——————————
Sabrina exasperated her staff by insisting on finishing departure preparations that day. She hobbled from one leave-taking to the next with dogged persistence, but it was well past nightfall when she and her staff left the diplomatic dome and headed for the spaceport.
"You're sure the prince is meeting us at the spaceport?" Sabrina asked Thad.
"Yes, Ambassador. I spoke to him myself and emphasized that you were not inclined to wait."
Sabrina grimaced. "I bet that went over well. He'll probably be late just for that. He knows I wouldn't dare leave him."
Thad cleared his throat. "I'm not sure he believes that."
"He does." Sabrina regretted for the hundredth time letting her conversation with Ford get away from her; they had both been shouting near the end, and Thad and Ranja must have overheard a good deal of it. "I'd never be so petty."
Ranja smiled. "Of course not. It's too late to start now."
"Exactly." Sabrina smiled back.
The groundcar slid to a halt at the spaceport terminal, then started up again as it passed through the checkpoint into the landing zone. Sabrina looked out through the blinding snowstorm and thought longingly of her beach home at Fibräaé. It would be a while before she could spend any time there, though. Scotty and Aurora's wedding would take place in a barely temperate Tree City, the traditional home of Aurora's ancestors. As the groom's attendant, Sabrina would have to go straight there to help with the preparations and rehearse.
"Here we go," Thad groaned, waiting to make sure they were all bundled up before reaching to open the groundcar door. Sabrina pulled her furry hood all the way over her face so that it nearly closed in front, leaving her a narrow strip of vision to follow Thad's back through the biting wind. She nearly ran into him when he stopped at the top of the transport's ramp.
"Hey!" Thad cried, thumping on the door in frustration.
"I'm sorry, but his royal highness has already come aboard, so I'll have to ask for visual identification," the pilot said over the loudspeaker.
Sabrina took a deep breath and then shoved her hood back halfway so her face would be visible to the airlock's external monitor. Then, as she quickly shoved the hood forward again, she felt a jagged piece of ice embed itself in her cheek. "Ouch! Come on, let's go!"
The airlock slid open, and Thad hurried inside, with Sabrina and Ranja nearly trampling him. They all sighed in relief as the outer door closed and the air began to warm. Thad glowered as he said, "He could have let us in the airlock at least!"
"New protocols," Sabrina said, slipping her hood off. "Since that assassination attempt on Rassir, things have been tightened up. Not that killing Ford would make much of a political statement."
"Ambassador!" Ranja exclaimed. "You're hurt!"
"What? Oh." Sabrina's hand came away from her cheek with a small smear of blood. "Something hit me. A little bit of hail, I think."
"I don't think so," Ranja said, moving back so Thad could look. He frowned, then reached out and touched Sabrina's cheek.
"Ow! Hey, stop that!" Sabrina said, stepping back quickly. Then she saw the tiny dart in Thad's hand. "Oh, crap."
Ranja was already on the intercom. "Let us all the way in! The ambassador needs medical attention!"
"Maybe a local hospital—" Thad suggested.
"No," Sabrina said. "Then I'd have to take leave all over again! Let's just go. I feel fine. It doesn't even hurt anymore."
"It could be a paralytic agent," Thad said darkly. "We have to get this analyzed, and we have to get you to a medical facility."
"This is a military transport. The infirmary will be fully equipped," Sabrina said, just as the airlock's inner door slid open.
A young officer met them in the corridor. "Ambassador, the sickbay is this way," he said.
Sabrina wanted nothing more than to lie down and rest, but she hobbled down the corridor after the officer, Thad and Ranja in tow.
——————————-
"See?" Sabrina couldn't resist saying. "Nothing to worry about. I told you."
"Yes, Ambassador," Thad said, unconvinced. Ranja just frowned.
The ship's doctor shook his head. "I don't see any adverse effects, but that doesn't mean there won't be any. I have your medical records, but I can't predict how everything will affect an alien biology. If you feel the slightest bit ill, you must contact me immediately, Ambassador."
"I promise," Sabrina said. "Can you do anything about my stupid knee?"
"I can try to speed up the healing process, but it would be better for you to just rest it."
"Fine with me. Thank you, Doctor Merza."
"I'll keep analyzing the dart," he said. "Maybe something will turn up."
Thad said, "It must be meant for something. Why shoot a dart at the Ambassador if it doesn't do anything?"
"Maybe it's just a little good-bye present," Sabrina sighed. "There were plenty of people making a profit from the war, and plenty more people worried about how they're going to make a living in peacetime. Thad, please go tell the pilot we can lift off now. Ranja, help me to my room, please?"