Alien Chronicles 1 - The Golden One (10 page)

This was not a good sign. Ampris watched her beloved friend worriedly. She understood that she had failed again to please Israi. Worse, she had somehow caused Israi to fail with Fazhmind. When he sneered at Ampris, that disrespect was somehow transferred to Israi. And for nothing in the world did Ampris want anyone to feel less than complete adoration for her beloved friend.

“I am sorry,” Ampris whispered. Her eyes filled with tears, and she was suddenly afraid Israi would send her away as Fazhmind was always urging. “Please forgive me.”

Israi said nothing. She would not look at Ampris.

“Please,” Ampris whispered. She crept closer to Israi, only to be drawn back by Lady Lenith’s gentle hand.

Lady Lenith shook her head and gestured for Ampris to be quiet.

Frightened by Israi’s anger, Ampris flattened her ears and obeyed.

Lady Lenith kept her hand on Ampris’s shoulder. “Have I the Imperial Daughter’s permission to order a bath for Ampris?”

Israi flicked out her tongue but said nothing.

Ampris stared at the floor. She was whimpering silently now; huge tears rolled down her face, streaking and matting her fur.

“I think,” Lady Lenith said in her calm way, “that little Ampris did very well. She is walking upright now, a great accomplishment. She probably tried to hurry when the Imperial Daughter called. Did you fall down when you hurried, Ampris?”

Ampris opened her mouth to say no, but Lady Lenith continued before she could answer.

“Falling down always gets Ampris dirty. Her fur is such a light color that she can’t help it, can she? And she went to such an effort to bring your highness flowers. Wasn’t that a splendid gesture?”

Israi kept her gaze averted. “They were ugly.”

“Oh, yes, indeed, very ugly,” Lady Lenith agreed, while Ampris quivered under her hand. “But when Ampris first picked them, they must have been exquisite. Too exquisite for a little one to resist.”

Ampris nodded her head, grateful for Lady Lenith’s understanding.

Lady Lenith smiled at her. “Now Ampris knows that she must never pick the flowers again, don’t you?”

Ampris nodded again. “Yes, Lady Lenith,” she said softly. Her gaze never left Israi’s averted face.

“Did your highness notice how splendidly she spoke when she first came in? Of course, she was not yet acknowledged. That was a small mistake of etiquette, which we can overlook because of her tender age. For even the Imperial Daughter can forget to wait for acknowledgment, sometimes when she approaches her father, for example. But Ampris said what was correct. She used the proper formality, and she spoke Viis without error. That is no small accomplishment for one of the abiru.”

Israi turned around to face them. Her green eyes were still flat and cold, but at least now she was looking at Ampris and her rill was fading to its normal color.

Fresh unhappiness filled Ampris. She was so sorry for all her mistakes. If Lady Lenith had not held her in place, she would have flung herself flat on the floor at Israi’s feet.

“It is important to make allowances for the shortcomings of those beneath us in ability, Israi,” Lady Lenith said. “Ampris is not perfect, but your highness loves her.”

Israi nodded, and relief dawned in Ampris. She gulped in a breath and wiped her eyes.

“As one who is older and more accomplished, your highness must remember to have patience with someone so little and new to court life. Ampris will learn, and she will improve. Give her time, and she will eventually reward you by behaving perfectly.”

“I will,” Ampris promised fervently.

Israi’s gaze softened before a fresh streak of dark blue appeared on her rill. “But Lord Fazhmind is horrid. I wanted her to impress him.”

“She will, in time. You must not mind his criticism so much. After all, you are the sri-Kaa. He is forever beneath your highness, forever subject to you. Do not give him more power than he has by letting his remarks upset you.”

Israi tilted her head, looking surprised. “Is that why he is so mean?”

“Yes,” Lady Lenith said.

“Oh.”

Ampris gazed up at Lady Lenith in gratitude. Perhaps Israi was going to forgive her after all, and if she did it was due to this gentle person’s influence. At that moment Ampris loved Lady Lenith almost as completely as she loved Israi. She rubbed her muzzle against Lady Lenith’s hand.

Lady Lenith patted her shoulder. “There now. All is right again. Will you two not make up? Or is Lord Fazhmind going to succeed in ruining your friendship?”

A strange look crossed Israi’s face. She jumped off her chair and rushed to hug Ampris, dirt and all.

“Dear little Ampris,” she said, squeezing Ampris tight. “I won’t let him do that. I promise. You are going to be with me forever.”

Happy once again, Ampris hugged her back. “I’ll be good,” she said. “I’ll be very good.”

Israi pulled free from their embrace and gently tugged one of Ampris’s ears. “Now go and get your bath. I have a new game for us to play.”

“The Imperial Daughter must take refreshment and a nap first,” Lady Lenith said.

Israi grimaced. “I am too old for naps,” she declared.

“All ladies take naps,” Lady Lenith said. “It preserves their beauty and their skin.”

Israi flicked out her tongue, but she made no further protest. “Go, Ampris, and bathe,” she said. “I’ll take a short nap while you do that. Then we’ll play.”

Relief was making Ampris feel sleepy herself. She beamed at Israi and bowed. “I can’t wait,” she said. “I like new games. But I want to play Squeak, too.”

Spinning around, she rushed out.

Before she reached the bathing chamber, however, Lady Lenith caught up with her. Under the neutral stares of the slaves, Lady Lenith gripped Ampris by the arm and shoved her over against a wall. Her gentle expression of sympathy was gone, replaced by stern disapproval. Her rill stood dark, at full extension.

She slapped Ampris once across the muzzle, not hard enough to hurt, but hard enough to shock Ampris.

Surprised by the blow, Ampris stared at her in disbelief while fresh tears filled her eyes. Her mouth began to quiver, but she dared say nothing.

“Now you listen to me,” Lady Lenith said in a clipped, no-nonsense voice. “You are getting too far above yourself of late. You are
not
the equal of the Imperial Daughter. Is that clear? You must
never
dictate which games her highness will play. Your opinion is not important, nor is it requested. Never again do I want to see you argue with her, or cause her distress. Is that clear?”

Shaken, Ampris nodded. “Yes, my lady,” she whispered.

“You have been set far above your station because it pleases the Imperial Daughter to put you there, but never forget that you are just an Aaroun, nothing more. The fact that you are allowed to speak Viis does not mean you are one of us. You are abiru, just like those slaves standing there.”

She gestured as she spoke, and Ampris stared at the expressionless servants in rising distress. She
wasn’t
a slave. She belonged to Israi. She was beloved of Israi. She was special. Israi had told her so.

“Silence,” Lady Lenith said as Ampris started to speak. “You are abiru, the lowest of the low. See that you remember it.”

“Yes, my lady,” Ampris whispered.

“And you can remember this also. The imperial promise is binding only as long as the Imperial Daughter wishes it to be. If you make her angry, she can send you away, just like that.” Lady Lenith flicked her fingers. “Her cartouche will be taken from your ear, and you will be cast out.”

Ampris clutched her earring in horror. “No!”

“Yes! I tell you this for your own benefit. You can be a good companion for her, if you will behave.”

“She won’t send me away,” Ampris insisted. “She is my friend.”

Lady Lenith slapped her again, hard enough to sting through Ampris’s fur this time. “No, you stupid Aaroun. The Imperial Daughter is
not
your friend. She is your owner. Never forget it. Never, do you hear?”

Holding her aching muzzle and fighting not to whimper, Ampris said nothing.

Lady Lenith pushed her toward the pool. “Go take your bath. You’ve had your warning. It’s up to you to remember it.”

Without another word, she turned and walked away, her long skirts billowing over her tail.

Not until she was gone from sight did Ampris dare move. Running to one of the decorative columns, she crouched down behind it and glared at the slaves watching her.

“Leave me alone!” she said, growling.

They shrugged and filed out, while Ampris told herself she didn’t care what they saw or what they heard. The opinion of a slave, after all, was nothing.

Alone in the vaulted bathing chamber, Ampris pressed her muzzle against the cool stone column and wept. She hated Lord Fazhmind, and she hated Lady Lenith. They said one thing and did another. Everything was a lie for Israi’s benefit. Their kindness was false, and no one could be trusted.

No one, except Israi.

Ampris lifted her head at last, trying to stop the miserable ache inside her. She had learned a big lesson today. Never again must she risk Israi’s displeasure. For only Israi mattered. She would make herself worthy of Israi’s friendship in every way. She would make Israi proud of her. Never again would she shame her beloved friend.

“I am not a stupid Aaroun,” Ampris whispered, resenting all the things Lady Lenith had said to her. “And Israi is my friend. As I am
her
friend. She will never send me away. She isn’t mean. She isn’t false.”

Slitting her eyes, Ampris glared into the distance and licked her palm before slapping it down on the floor and grinding it back and forth, the way she’d seen some of the slaves do when they thought no one was watching.

That
for Lady Lenith of the two faces.

She licked her palm a second time and again slapped her hand on the floor, smearing her spittle across the stone. And
that
for Lord Fazhmind, her enemy. Both of them could do what they liked and say what they wanted. She would show them that an Aaroun was just as good as they were.

CHAPTER
•FIVE

The city of Vir lay wedge-shaped along the shores of the Cuna Da’r River. At its apex stood the vast palace complex, seat of the Kaa’s power, and from the tall palace gates the broad Avenue of Triumph bisected the rest of the city. The fashionable west side, with its expensive shops and the villas of the nobility, filled the area between the river and the Avenue of Triumph. Bordering the banks of the river itself stood the Row of Palaces, grand edifices built long ago during the height of the Viis Empire. They were maintained now by the descendants of the Twelve, the original noble houses.

The east side of the city sprawled unchecked out into the dry, flat Plains of Filea. As the capital city of the Viis homeworld, Vir required a spaceport, but the terminal had been located eighty klicks away to spare the city from the noise of ground-space shuttles booming into departure velocity. Vir Station One stood at the farthest rim of the eastern side of the city, handling first-class passengers. Vir Stations Two and Three processed second- and third-class passengers, including military personnel. Vir Station Four handled only cargo, including domestic, intercontinental, and galactic trade. It constantly expanded to accommodate the heavy traffic between it and Port Filea, and many of the loading docks for cargo now extended into the abiru ghetto. Tenants never knew when they might return home from work to find their building marked for demolition. As a result, more and more tenements grew crowded, and more and more of the abiru folk were forced to live in alley shanties.

The ghetto was a place of decaying buildings, abandoned shops, and dirty streets. Sanitation Services came through sporadically. Public comm lines were usually broken, which also meant most of the vids didn’t work. Public transit did not enter the ghetto. Cameras and security sniffers floated constantly along the perimeter dividing the ghetto from the rest of the city, with strong security networks clustered at the gates. The registration ID implanted in Elrabin’s elbow lacked an authorization exit code, which meant he could stand at the barricades all day long and look at the sleek skimmers flying by, the well-to-do Viis citizens hurrying past on their business, the shops with fabulous wares displayed behind shimmering security bars, but he could never pass through the gates into the Viis part of the city. All those wonderful things out there might as well be located on the planet Mynchepop, for all the chance Elrabin had of ever getting closer to them.

Few Viis ventured into the ghetto besides slavers, patrollers, and members of the small religious order that ministered to the Viis Rejects, who were to be avoided at all costs.

Reforms were mentioned occasionally on vid news, but no one in the Viis government wanted to squander money on breaking the endless cycle of poverty, hard labor, and degradation of the inferior abiru races.

To Elrabin, standing at the barricade with his narrow muzzle almost pressed to its crackling energy barrier, there was an entirely unexplored world waiting for him out there. He pressed closer, yearning to experience a type of existence that seemed like a fantasy.

An alarm blared, startling him into jumping back. Heart pounding, he gazed up at the sniffer floating above him. Little frizzles of energy crackled over his skin, and he knew he was being scanned.

“You are too close to the barricade,” a mechanical voice blared. It was scratchy, warbling at the ends of words in a way that would have been funny in other circumstances. “Step back six paces. Warning. You are . . . close to the barr . . . cade. Step back.”

Elrabin scooted back, turned, and headed down the street with his ears cocked back, alert for trouble. The sniffer continued to float over the spot where he’d been, its message repeating itself as though stuck in a loop.

The stupid thing was probably five seconds from a break-down. Elrabin flicked his ears forward. Half the machinery in the ghetto didn’t work. No one maintained it, and anything that did function usually got stolen or cannibalized for parts.