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Kuen rubbed his eyes. This latest idiocy of his mother’s was giving him a headache. While Kuen had enjoyed two years of relative freedom, living with Gaspare and spending what time he could justify with Fiera, the constant strain of playing so many roles was wearing him down.

Calloused hands settled on his neck. “Gaspare dropped me off,” Fiera said as she started massaging. “He said you were working too hard again. He doesn’t need me at this party, so he left me to help you.”

Kuen bowed his head and let her do her thing. “He would be right. I’m struggling with this latest assignment from her.”

Her hands found a particularly nasty knot and she focused her attentions on it. “Why?”

“You taught me what to look for. This will be detrimental enough to the Colonies that I fear it will spark a full-on rebellion, something you’ve said before your father wants.” Kuen set the pad down and let his arms hang down.

“Your mother does too, in her own way, because she knows if the CAF goes after the Colony forces, we’ll be wiped out.” Fiera’s hands moved on.

“We?” Kuen twisted in his chair so he could look at her.

Fiera’s hands fell to her sides. “If it comes to war, I’m going home, Kuen. It might be a hopeless battle, but I won’t leave my people to fight without me.” She didn’t meet his gaze.

Kuen caught Fiera’s face in his hands. “If you join them, you run the risk of fighting me, Fiera. I’m a civilian now but in the end I’m still a member of the CAF. I’ll be recalled and sent to the front lines regardless of what my mother wants.”

Tears filled her turquoise eyes. “Gaspare told me I’d be fighting both of you. I hate that. I still need to stand with my people, and I can’t do that here.”

Kuen pulled Fiera into her arms, something he rarely did though a part of him longed for more than these stolen embraces. Their relationship had evolved from friends to something more over the past two years. She wrapped her arms around his neck. He held her close as she buried her face in his shoulder.

He knew she was crying. He let her release the pent up emotions no one, not even her stylists, were allowed to see. Gaspare never saw her tears either. Only Kuen was granted that privilege and he never abused it because the fact that she trusted him so much meant a lot to him.

Fiera started to step back. Kuen tightened his hold on her. “Fiera, I don’t want to be the one to end your life,” he whispered.

“I don’t want to have to kill you either, Kuen,” Fiera said. “This frightens me more than anything you could ever understand.”

Kuen pulled her onto his lap and, to both their surprise, pressed his lips against hers. It was awkward – he hadn’t really practiced kissing someone before. Fiera though was very skilled, being a courtesan, and once she realized what he was doing more than made up for his inexperience.

Kuen pulled the two hair sticks out of her hair and barely kept from moaning as the strands fell over his hands. He tangled his fingers in her curls, pulling her closer.

Fiera was just as eager as he was. She pulled the tie out of his hair and wrapped the long, black strands over her hands. Kuen moved his mouth down onto her throat. She tilted her head to one side, giving him easier access.

“Kuen.” His name, spoken with such desire and need, was all it took to break his self-control. Kuen rose, holding Fiera with one arm. He got them over to his bed before starting on her dress.

Fiera helped him out of his clothes even as he got her out of her dress. The next few hours were spent discovering each other’s bodies, the pleasure of touch, and the immense ecstasy when they finally came together.

When Gaspare returned to the townhouse, there was no sign of their tryst. He took her back to her House because she had another party that night she was required to attend on the arm of one of the other young men among the wealthy elite. Kuen was back sorting through the notes Michi and Lakshmi sent him trying to find a way out of what they wanted him to do.

“How’s it going?” Gaspare asked when he returned.

“Read this and tell me if I’m seeing something that isn’t there,” Kuen said, handing him the tablet.

Gaspare hung up his jacket and sat down, taking the tablet from his friend. The sheer amount of swearing as he finished perusing the document told Kuen all he needed to know.

“If you’re seeing the fact that we will be going to war sooner rather than later, you’re right.” Gaspare passed the tablet back to him. “How long do you have before you have to approach those councilors?”

“I have a lunch meeting with them in a week.” Kuen’s expression was grim. “Fiera will go home if it comes to war.”

Gaspare shook his head. “We need to send her back now. They’ll close the borders first and she won’t make it home if that happens.”

Kuen swallowed hard. “I will miss her.”

“You’re in love with her.” This wasn’t a question.

“I love her much like I love you or I loved Nafi.” Kuen shrugged. “It isn’t hard to love someone.”

Gaspare gave him a knowing look. “It’s more than that, Kuen. You would rather have her as a wife than anyone in our social caste.”

Kuen sighed. “It doesn’t matter what I want. It isn’t possible. She refuses to look at any other options beyond returning home to fight for her people.”

“Do you blame her?” Gaspare also sighed. “She is, at the purest essence of her being, a child of the Colonies.”

“And I am a child of the Central Worlds,” Kuen said bitterly.

“No, you’re not. You were born here, and you have given your oath to the CAF.” Gaspare ran his fingers through his hair, ruffling it so it stood up like a golden crest. “You’re not fanatically loyal to the CWA. You were indoctrinated to be that way, yet you always questioned that demand for unwavering devotion.” He met his friend’s gaze. “You know why they made you kill Nafi, don’t you?”

Kuen was stunned at the change of topic. “To test my loyalty.”

“To see if you’d been won over to the side of the Colonists as well. If you were, you’d have helped her escape rather than execute her. They’d have let her go and killed you in her place. You, the hero so many young cadets looked up to, would have been the perfect scapegoat,” Gaspare said. “Instead, you showed the cadets that loyalty to the CAF came above all other ties. It was a lesson the High Command could use, but I don’t think they realized just how much they lost that day,” Gaspare said.

“Nafisa wouldn’t have stayed in the CAF, and those who stood with her would have probably defected to the Colonies,” Kuen pointed out.

“They executed those who would have abandoned the CWA eventually,” Gaspare said. “But tell me – after that day, did you believe anything the High Command told you?”

Kuen pursed his lips as he thought back to the one event that had scarred him so deeply. “No. I stopped believing in their infallibility, in their honesty, and in their professed desire to find a non-violent solution to the issue with the Colonies. I could see that they didn’t care about peace – only violence.”

“You saw them as the short-sighted, fear mongering humans that they are. Even my father has that issue. You remember how he treated Fiera after Emele took care of her. He didn’t care that she’d almost died to save my mother. All that mattered to him was the fact that she was a Colonist and the daughter of Eire Rezouac. The fact that she wants peace as much as we do didn’t factor his thoughts at all.” Gaspare scowled, still angry with his father for his treatment of Fiera.

Kuen’s scowl matched Gaspare’s. “At least he hasn’t tried to get near her. I’d go after him again if he tried.”

“I’ve told him as much, and I forced her to make that a condition with her House master as well. She wasn’t going to because she can’t blacklist too many people without looking suspicious,” Gaspare said.

Kuen looked at him curiously. “How many are on her list right now?”

“As far as I know, just my father and Lady Kakoric,” Gaspare said with a shrug. “She hasn’t confided in me if she’s added anyone else to the list.”

“Good. Any word on if Lady Kakoric has tried to ambush her again?” Kuen referred to an incident the previous spring where Lady Kakoric had tried to waylay Fiera at a party that she was attending as Gaspare’s escort. She’d almost managed to force the young woman out the main entrance by sheer force of personality before Gaspare stepped in and reclaimed his companion, chastising Lady Kakoric for openly trying to steal Fiera from him – and reminding her very loudly that she was on Fiera’s blacklist for such strong-arm tactics.

Gaspare shook his head. “She hasn’t tried it when the two of us have attended parties together, and Fiera hasn’t said if it’s happened anywhere else.”

“I don’t think I’ve seen Lady Kakoric at that many parties lately,” Kuen said.

“She only attends the ones where there are a large number of Assembly members. No one wants her as a guest unless there’s no other choice.” Gaspare grimaced. “The woman did it to herself. She’s grown increasingly erratic over the past two years.”

“I wonder if it has anything to do with her brother,” Kuen mused.

“It might. Twins are always a hard read, and it’s why they don’t allow twin pairings into the CAF unless they’re willing to be separated into completely different units. The bond between twins can and does cause problems in combat situations, or so the High Command has found in various battle simulations,” Gaspare said.

Kuen snorted. “Simulations aren’t the same thing as real combat. They should know that by now.”

Gaspare put up his hands. “They do know that, but it’s still valuable data for psychological readiness projects.”

Kuen snorted again. The PRPs were the bane of a cadet’s existence at the Academy. PRPs meant more abuse, random periods of total sensory deprivation and battle simulations that made no sense. It was to see how well a soldier’s psyche dealt with the unexpected, something Kuen privately felt could be handled differently since both men and women who were valuable assets were broken mentally by the PRPs and kicked out.

These were the men and women who served in the sec ops – former soldier candidates with chips on their shoulders, bad attitudes, and a desire to prove they were in charge. Kuen knew firsthand just how pervasive that attitude was among the sec ops in general but get one of the washouts from the CAF and you had a major recipe for trouble. That was why there were so many measures in the Assembly right now to de-militarize the sec ops, making them little better than civilians with force sticks.

“Your thoughts are light years away again,” Gaspare said, nudging him.

“Sorry, thinking about the PRPs and that last run in we had with a group of sec ops,” Kuen said.

Gaspare groaned. “The PRPs just lead to more trouble for civilians rather than really proving anything in regards to how a soldier can handle the rigors of war.”

“And it is the civilians that pay for the High Command’s mistakes,” Kuen said. “Then again, it’s always the non-coms who pay the price for the abuses done by those in power.”

“Including your mother?” Gaspare asked, raising an eyebrow.

Kuen nodded. “Especially that woman.”

“What will you do, Kuen, if it comes down to war?” Gaspare glanced at the tablet. “Which is looking pretty much inevitable at this point.”

“I got a message from the High Command this morning. All former members of the CAF who are still of fighting age are now on standby. We’re to await our recall orders.” Kuen gestured towards the tablet. “They can see the truth of the situation as plainly as we can.”

“Then you have to get Fiera out of here, Kuen. I can’t do it, or my father will have my hide. He wants her here when the hostilities start so he can leverage her as a hostage,” Gaspare said. “I’m not even supposed to entertain the idea of her leaving. If you say you’re going to help her I am under orders to immediately tell my father.”

“What would he do if I said something like that?” Kuen was curious.

“Have you recalled instantly so you wouldn’t have time to move her.”

Kuen smiled. “Then it’s a good thing I don’t see the need to send her packing when all of this is simply ridiculous speculation on our parts, Gaspare. And you should be ashamed of yourself, even hinting that I’d give up the company of the woman I am so enamored of.” He put his finger to his lips and jerked his head to the right ever so slightly.

Gaspare’s eyes shifted and nodded. He knew about the listening devices scattered all through the townhouse. Gaspare snickered. “I was wondering how far I could push you. But I should know by now you’re not the kind to disobey the High Command.”

The two young men went about the rest of their evening. The next morning Gaspare roused Kuen for an early morning run, something the two did randomly when the mood struck them. Since there had been no discussion the night before the watchers were caught off guard.

Kuen took them to the one running path that afforded them the most privacy and the two fell into an easy rhythm. “What are you going to do?” Gaspare asked.

“I’ve already spoken with her House Master, contracting her for a six-week cruise to Icrtara. I told him not to tell her where we were going as I planned for it to be a surprise. From there I plan to improvise.” Kuen kept his pace steady and his voice low.

“Ah, the whole ‘go on vacation and don’t come back’ routine,” Gaspare said. “Simple and efficient. I like it.”

“Something like that,” Kuen said.

“Kuen, you should go with her. As soon as they realize she’s gone you’ll be called up and put in the worst possible duty station,” Gaspare said.

“I am still a member of the CAF, and Fiera knows that I’ll be fighting for my people even as she fights for hers.” Kuen kept his eyes on the path. “Besides, if I disappear, there will be a high price placed on my head both by my mother and the CAF and it’ll be a race to see whose agents find me first. I’m not exactly hard to identify, Gaspare.”

The two finished their run in silence and parted company at the cars. Kuen wasn’t going back to the townhouse. He was meeting Fiera and getting her off world before the High Command realized when they were leaving.

Sidonie, one of Fiera’s servants, was waiting for him when he arrived. “Lord Nakano, Mistress Fiera sent me to meet you. She said you’d be coming. She’s in a meeting with another client who she wants you to interrupt.” The woman seemed very nervous.

“What client?” Kuen asked.

“Lady Kakoric lied and got in to see Mistress Fiera.” The girl was wringing her hands. “She sent us all away and told me to watch for you.”

“Her rooms?” Kuen didn’t need to hear any more. Sidonie nodded.

People melted out of Kuen’s way as he strode through the corridors. The guards of House Kakoric didn’t even try to stop him as he opened Fiera’s doors.

The room was a mess, and Fiera was in serious trouble. Lady Kakoric had her pinned and a syringe was dangerously close to the younger woman’s neck. Fiera was still struggling, swearing and calling Lady Kakoric every name under the twin suns.

Kuen reached down and scooped up one of the various items that had been knocked to the floor in the struggle. He threw it with the same precision he used in his knife practice. It struck the woman’s shoulder.

Lady Kakoric shouted in pain, the syringe falling from nerveless fingers. Fiera saw it hit her floor. With a mighty shove, Lady Kakoric went flying. “Was this his failsafe? Killing me?” she shrieked.

“No, that one’s my idea,” Lady Kakoric said, rolling to her feet. “I told him using you was the worst possible idea, but Leonidas wouldn’t listen. He said you were too loyal to the Colonies to ever be swayed to a life in the Core.”

Kuen moved behind the older woman and wrapped his arm around her throat. “If you move, if you scream, both you and your guards will never be seen again,” he growled. “Fiera, are you hurt?”

Fiera stood and dusted herself off. “No more than I’d be in a rough and tumble back home, Kuen. If she’d stuck me, I’d be dead though.”

“That would have violated the terms of your contract with me, and I’d have been very perturbed.” The growl was still there. “Do you wish me to make Lady Kakoric and her guards vanish?”

Fiera smiled, her lips twisted in a bitter mockery of her usual charming laugh. “No, I think if you’d just toss her unceremoniously out in the hall and let me shriek at her with everyone watching that will do far more to damage her.”

“I believe I can accommodate you on that one, my lady,” Kuen said. He dragged the now writhing noblewoman to the door and threw her out into the hall.

Fiera screamed with sufficient volume to draw a number of notables, as well as her House Master. Fiera stumbled over, waving the syringe under Iacchus Santorini’s nose. “You bastard. You said she couldn’t do anything to me, and yet she was trying to kill me. If not for Lord Nakano’s timely arrival I’d have died.” She turned and kicked the prone woman. “And you, you disgusting harridan. You have violated so many things today it’ll be a wonder that Councilor Kakoric doesn’t send you home in disgrace. He should, you know. Forcing your way into my rooms, attempting to force me to give in to your disturbing whims, and when I rightfully refuse you try to kill me?”

Fiera’s rant continued but she’d already returned to her rooms. “Master Santorini, I expect my investments to be better protected. Do not make Gaspare and me sorry we chose to continue patronizing your establishment. Otherwise I might be tempted to fund Ms. Molohaney’s permanent departure from this house,” Kuen said before following Fiera into her rooms.

Fiera flung herself into his arms, punching him hard in the gut when no one could see. Kuen closed the door. “You rotten piece of drek. You’re trying to smuggle me out of the Core,” she hissed as he tried to catch his breath.

“War is inevitable, and High Admiral Benoit intends to use you as a hostage,” Kuen murmured in her ear as he grabbed her in a hug. “Unless you want to spend the entirety of the war being paraded in front of the CWA and Colonies as proof either of your father’s willingness to comply to protect you or his total lack of regard for human life because he’s leaving you to be tortured to death, I suggest you go home.”

Fiera kicked a piece of trash across the room. “I’ve worked very hard to get to where I am, and now I have to give it all up, tuck tail, and pretend I don’t mind at all that I’m probably going to be shooting at people who don’t have more than a vapor trail’s notion of what they’re actually fighting for.”

“It’s that part that’s bothering you the most, isn’t it?” Kuen walked over and wrapped his arms around her.

“Kuen, the Colonies will put a gun in the hands of everyone they think is old enough to fight and dump us in the front lines somewhere. I have no idea what age ‘old enough’ is. There could be children my brother Herry’s age standing in front of someone two or three times older with years more experience,” Fiera said.

“Your brother Herry would be what, nine now? Would they really do that?” Kuen asked.

“I don’t know what my father would do, assuming he’s even still the one in control of the resistance.” Tears streamed down her bruised cheeks. “Kuen, I am terrified. For all of us.”

“I am concerned for all of us as well, my phoenix.” He held her close and let her cry out her frustrations. “Now, we do have a flight to catch, and images must be kept up.”

“You’re right.” Fiera looked around. “I don’t have anything left here. I already sent Azari with my girls and the luggage.”

“What are you going to do with your stylists when we reach Icrtara?” Kuen asked.

“Leave them there,” Fiera said. “My cousin Fallon lives on Icrtara. They can stay with her, or someone who knows Fallon and will be kindly disposed towards them.”

“All right, why don’t you wash your face and we’ll go,” Kuen said.

Fifteen minutes later a much neater and more put together Fiera emerged from the bathroom. She smiled. “I have an image to maintain,” she said. The two walked out of her rooms.

“I’ve put you on the off-world list for the next twelve weeks. If the plans change, I expect to be notified immediately,” Iacchus said. “I also called Councilor Kakoric. He’s on his way to pick up his lifemate. I would suggest not being here. He is not happy.”

“We’re on our way out, and I’ll call if I’m going to be delayed.” Fiera slid her arm into Kuen’s and looked up at him. There was real fear in her eyes.

Kuen covered her hand with his and they sauntered out to his car. He had her installed and they were already easing out onto the road when an elegant vehicle with the crest of the Gaiteran Consulate on the door pulled into the driveway.

“That was close.” Kuen reached out and put his hand on Fiera’s knee. “We are safely away from him, and we’ll be on the liner soon.”

“I know.” Fiera regarded him solemnly. “Kuen, that was my aunt I just ruined.”

“Your aunt who, I feel I need to point out, was trying to kill you, Fiera,” Kuen said.

“She was just doing what she thought my father would want.” Fiera leaned her head against the door. “Have I really gotten that pathetic?”

“You aren’t pathetic, you’re homesick. You’ve been that way for months now. You want to go home but you also love your life here and it’s tearing you apart.”

Fiera snorted. “It’s not my life here. I’d give up being a courtesan in a heartbeat if it meant –” She stopped.

“If it meant what?” Kuen asked.

“It doesn’t matter. It’s something that could never happen no matter how much I wanted it to. I’m just happy I was able to have a tiny glimpse of something special.” Here her voice broke.

Kuen put the car on autodrive and turned in his seat to look at her. “What do you mean, Fiera?”

She looked at him then, her eyes full of tears. “Kuen, no matter what happens, I won’t ever see you again. I had a glimpse of what it would be like if we were equals and could choose to be together if we wanted. I will treasure that for the rest of my life.”

“Fiera, I cannot swear that we won’t be asked to do things that we will be angry with each other for. But I can say this – if we both survive the war, I’ll find some way to see you again.” He took one of her hands in his.

“Don’t you get it Kuen? The war will end with the Core victorious because you’ve got all the advantages in this. My stupid father is blind if he doesn’t see that.” Fiera closed her eyes and Kuen could only guess what her vivid imagination was showing her. “With your family name, all you would have to do is say my name to someone and they would drag me off of Sorus and back to Bouarus because you’re Core and I’m Colony and we’ll be even more subjugated than we are now.”

“I will not ask anyone to do something I’m not able to do on my own, Fiera. If I can’t manage it on my own, with only the skills I already have, then you’re right, – we won’t see each other again,” Kuen said. “I won’t use the Nakano name to destroy more lives.”

“I wish more people thought the way you did.” Fiera’s tears spilled over onto her cheeks for the third time. Kuen pulled a napkin out of the center console and wiped her eyes. He tightened his grip on her hand and the two didn’t let go until they reached the port.

The stylists were waiting with Fiera’s luggage. They looked rather disgruntled. Kuen smiled at the two women. Fiera was going to hit him again but for their own safety he didn’t want the two young women anywhere near Icrtara. It would also prevent the High Command from tracking them so easily.

“Liliana, Devorah, I have a surprise for you as well as your mistress,” Kuen said as soon as they came up to them.

“For us?” Liliana asked.

Kuen pulled out two very large packets. “I heard from a mutual acquaintance that the two of you aren’t fond of long-distance travel, but you don’t mind the shuttle up to Tremere.” The two stylists looked startled. “I’ve arranged for an extended stay on Tremere for the two of you, and I – ahem – borrowed two stylists from another courtesan who has far more than she needs to take care of Fiera. I’m certain they won’t be as good as you two, but they’ll manage so you can have a bit of a vacation as well.”

Devorah snatched the two packets from him. “Thank you, Lord Nakano. Right now, I am quite relieved that looks cannot kill.”

Liliana giggled. “She’s very upset with you, Lord Nakano. But Dev and I need a break and we appreciate you thinking of us too. We’ll be off now.” The two women slipped away hand in hand.

“Yell at me in private, when we’re on the liner,” Kuen said through gritted teeth as Fiera’s grip tightened painfully on his arm. Fiera’s jaw clenched but she hailed a porter, and they got the luggage to the liner – the Takahachi. Fiera’s lips twitched and though she was obviously angry Kuen saw the hint of amusement as well.

It didn’t take long for them to be installed in their first-class rooms. As soon as they had some privacy, Fiera rounded on him. “I told you I would take care of them.”

“You did, yes. I set up their vacation to make it harder for the High Command to track us. I don’t want you getting caught by High Admiral Benoit, and I don’t want them being used against you. Gaspare’s agents are waiting for them on Tremere to ensure they disappear safely and are settled somewhere out of the High Command’s reach,” Kuen said.

Fiera swallowed hard. He watched her throat move as she struggled to accept that he was trying to help her. “I hate this. There are too many people who could be hurt because of me.” She turned away and punched the bulkhead.

Kuen took a deep breath. “If you’re concerned about Xenon and Calixtra, Gaspare and I had them relocated earlier this year. High Admiral Dartle was suggesting that, if High Admiral Benoit was so interested in you, that it would bein the High Command’s best interest to ‘securely re-home’ those you were close to.”

“What does that mean?” Fiera’s voice was low and the rage that Kuen still felt was bubbling beneath the surface of her own blank expression.

“It means that your former stylists would be picked up in a midnight sec op raid, dragged to a detention center, and then they’d vanish. The paper trail would stop there, but they wouldn’t be in sec op custody. The CAF would take over their incarceration and one of two things would happen,” Kuen said.

“What are those two things?” Fiera asked.

“They’d either be locked in a two meter by two meter room with a hole in the corner for a privy or they’d be put into suspended animation.” Kuen paused. “High Admiral Benoit prefers the latter. The victims of the CAF take up less room that way, less money over all for their upkeep. The budget for more big-ticket items like an unnecessary war won’t have to be tapped into in order to deal with it.”

“Tell me again why we shouldn’t just kill your High Command and be done with it?” Fiera snapped.

“First, if you could actually get assassins in to take down the members of the High Command I’d be surprised. They’re always well-guarded, and that becomes even more imperative during wartime maneuvers. Second, killing the High Command won’t do you any good. Each High Admiral has a replacement already waiting for them to either die or retire. Those replacements are never in the same place as the High Admirals to prevent a loss in the chain of command,” Kuen said.

Fiera hit the bulkhead again. “These actions are what I despise about the Core.”

“I don’t like them either, Fiera.” He wanted to tell her everything, but he couldn’t. If they were caught, he didn’t dare let it be known he’d slipped that many secrets of the CAF out to the Colonies.

“I suppose I just have to be patient and wait, go home like a good little girl, and never mind the fact that I have friends who are going to die because of me,” Fiera said, turning her back towards him.

“No, Fiera. Xenon and Calixtra are safe. The twelve week vacation your stylists have on Tremere will end with them getting one-way tickets to another life – one where they won’t have to worry about the High Admirals. Gaspare’s agents will see to it that the CAF can’t find them. Believe me, when the Arpathi hide someone, they do a very good job,” Kuen said.

“You’re taking care of me and yet all I’ve done for you is cause you numerous headaches, attracted your mother’s attention in the wrong way, and left you bruised when I should have been far kinder,” Fiera said.

Kuen chuckled. “You’ve left me bruised, that’s true. My mother is a complicated woman who is hard to avoid no matter who you are, so at some point you’d probably have attracted the wrong attention from her. Life causes me headaches. You’re not special in that regard.” He sighed. “Fiera, you also taught me what it was to love. You taught me what it meant to live again instead of mindlessly following orders. You are my other half, and I will miss you dearly as I would if someone were to sever my arm and leg.”

Kuen walked over to her and gathered her into his arms. She didn’t resist and the fierceness of the kiss she returned told him everything he needed to know. They were well out into the space lane before words became important again.