It was early summer and the whole court was buzzing. It was said the emperor and the council had come to an agreement on who he would marry, but none of the ladies at court had been summoned for a private conversation. So, who could it be? The women in the courtesan wing were equally as anxious as the rest of the court. Whoever it was, that meant an end to their being summoned to the emperor and the beginning of their long-term isolation.

“Lynet, the emperor has called for you to come and see him now.” Arken came out of his office with a puzzled look on his face. “Not this evening. You are to prepare yourself in the usual way and then go to see him. You will have to be quick. The Imperial guard will be here shortly to collect you.”

Lynet flew from the table. Her servants arrived shortly after that. It was perhaps twenty minutes later that the Imperial guard arrived and ten minutes after that Lynet was out the door, following along behind her escort.

“I wonder what the emperor wants to talk to her about,” Tekla mused. She had been called for several times. Not as many as the other women, but she’d been able to entertain the emperor as the others did. Lynet had been called only twice, and the second time had ended exactly the same way as the first, and he’d stopped calling for her altogether.

“I don’t know, but I must admit I’m curious too.” Marin stared at the door. “He stopped calling for her months ago. I wonder what changed his mind now.”

“Perhaps he’s come up with some way to get around not sending us back to our academies and is going to send her away after all.” Ji-Hye sounded doubtful even as she made the suggestion.

“I doubt he’d have called her to speak to her for that.” Zarina shook her head. “He’d have had Lord Arken tell her that. No, this is something big.”

“What if the council chose Lynet for his wife and he gave in and agreed?” Renate looked at the other women with an expression of fear on her face.

“Why would he do that?” Sayana was confused by Renate’s question.

“I don’t know.” Renate brought one finger to her lips. “I know it sounds ridiculous, but what if that’s why he called for her? I can’t think of any other reason he’d call for her out of turn other than that.”

“I don’t think it’s that.” Marin sounded sure of her answer.

“Renate has a good point though.” Sayana grew thoughtful. “Why else would he call her? If the council threatened someone he cared about, he would give in and marry Lynet. She would be easily swayed by the council. She is the perfect puppet for them.”

“You can’t be seriously considering that, Sayana.” Zarina looked at her in shock.

“It is not a bad supposition.” Arken looked at the women. “The council and the emperor have not announced who they agreed on. It obviously is not one of the ladies of the court, so that leaves you ladies. He has not called for any of the rest of you. I think Sayana and Renate could be correct. I am afraid he may have been forced to marry Lynet.” He tapped something into his pad. “I have sent Tremere and the others in to check it out.”

“Bad enough we have to put up with her.” Zarina scowled. “Now she’s going to be empress, and we have to bow to her?”

“I am afraid so, if that is the reason she was called for.” Arken returned to his office.

Perhaps an hour later, Lynet returned to the courtesan wing. She had a superior smirk on her face. “I’m to marry the emperor.”

“It seems Renate and Sayana were right.” Marin looked grim.

“I feel sorry for the emperor,” Zarina muttered.

“What was that?” Lynet demanded.

“You heard me. You’re not empress yet so I don’t have to be polite to you until then. You’re a horrible person, Lynet. I don’t know why you were chosen over the rest of us. I can only assume the council threatened someone else the emperor held in high regard to force him to choose you.” Zarina glowered at the other woman.

“I was chosen because I was the best choice. That’s what Lord Vasco said.” Lynet tossed her head and gave them all a superior look.

“Yes, you were the best choice based on what the council wants. Not what the emperor wants. He would never have chosen you if he’d been free to make his own decision. You’re not special, Lynet. You’re a puppet empress for the council. I don’t know why they want someone like you on the throne. I can only hope the empire survives such a weak woman in that position.” Marin gave the woman a cold look.

Lynet glared at the other women. “I’ll see to it that he orders your execution as soon as we’re married. He’ll have to do as I say.”

“No, he won’t, and I doubt he’ll kill us. He still values us more than he values you.” Sayana was quiet but the other women nodded in agreement with her.

“You’re wrong. He wouldn’t have chosen me to marry if he valued me so little,” Lynet shouted.

“Yes, he would have.” Arken came out from his office. “The council threatened to kill the other courtesans if he did not marry you. My spies found that out in the short time you were with the emperor. To save their lives, he agreed to marry you. He does not want to marry you, Lynet. He wants to save their lives.”

Lynet stared at them all and then burst into tears. She ran from the room, sobbing. “I told you he called her to choose her as his wife.” Renate looked ill.

“You and Sayana were right.” Marin was deathly pale. “Lord Arken, the council actually threatened to have us killed if he didn’t marry Lynet?”

“The report I got was that Vasco would wipe out his favorites, meaning those he called on the most, if he did not agree to marry Lynet.” Arken’s expression was grim. “The emperor did not want to risk any of your lives, so he agreed to marry her.”

“To lose to a woman like her,” Ji-Hye muttered.

“We will be entering a period of long-term isolation.” Sayana looked at the other women. “We need to be prepared for that.”

“Yes, you will.” Arken sighed. “I am sorry. I wish it could be different. However, as long as our emperor is ruled by his council we can only do as he does and deal with the fallout from those decisions.”

None of the women were happy. However, they did as Arken said. When Lynet came out, they treated her with cold respect that was all they would give her. She tried to demand more than that, but when she was rebuffed and told that until the wedding, she was still just another courtesan and had no power over the other women by Arken, she subsided and sulked.

Sayana supposed she’d expected the other women to be glad for her and to treat her with a kind of veneration. That would never happen. They would bow to her on high feast days but if they could get away with it, they would ignore her as they had all this time. She was insufferable and marrying the emperor was just going to make it more pronounced.

The next day, stylists and dressmakers descended on the wing. There was some debate over the wedding dress and the attendants’ gowns, for the other courtesans were required to stand as Lynet’s attendants, but it was settled and things calmed down. That evening, all the women were gathered in the main room. Most were reading. Sayana was watching Tekla, who decided on something. She went and sat next to Lynet. “I’d like to hear about your wedding dress,” she said with a genuinely sweet smile on her face. “I’m sure it must be beautiful.”

“What do you care?” Lynet asked with hostility. “You’re just being nice to curry favor with me. Well it won’t work. I know you hate me the same as the others do.”

“I don’t, Lynet.” Tekla’s smile didn’t fade. “I don’t hate anyone. I genuinely care about your happiness and want to hear about the wedding dress because it makes you happy.”

“Nothing makes me happy.” Lynet gave her a little shove. “Go away.”

Tekla got up and returned to her original chair. “We told you.” Zarina looked at Tekla. “She isn’t civil to anyone, even when you’re genuinely nice to her.”

“I still want to hear about her dress.” Tekla sighed. “After today, though, I don’t blame her for not wanting to talk to me. You weren’t exactly very nice to her.”

“You’re not going to get a different response tomorrow, Tekla.” Marin looked up from her pad. “Even though you are genuinely interested in her, in her dress, and in her happiness, she doesn’t care. All she cares about is how miserable she feels right now and how none of the rest of us are rushing forward to congratulate her.”

Lynet glared at Marin and got up and left the group. She must have called for her servants because they arrived a short while later. Zarina shook her head. “That woman is entirely too spoiled.”

“You’re too hard on her.” Tekla paused. “But she is very spoiled.”

They read until it was time to go to bed. “The court is in an uproar, Lady Sayana.” Ardatha began taking down Sayana’s hair. “The formal announcement of the emperor’s chosen bride was made today, and you could hear the howls of protest all the way out to the Zodiac Nebulae. So many people are objecting on the grounds that Lynet isn’t highborn, and many men are protesting on behalf of their daughters or sisters because they don’t get the chance to become tied to the Imperial throne by marriage. The council is saying that this is the fairest possible solution so no one can claim any kind of power over the emperor.”

“I think it’s a bad idea to marry him to Lynet, but we don’t have a choice in this.” Sayana tried not to cry. The lingering feelings she felt for the emperor were strong and though she wouldn’t put a name to them, she knew they were ill-advised.

“It’s said that Lord Vasco looks remarkably pleased with himself, which is disturbing to several people in court.” Ardatha continued pulling out hair pins. “They want to know what he’s pleased about, and if he has anything to do with Lynet being chosen.”

“I’m sure they do.” Sayana frowned. “Considering Lord Vasco threatened the rest of us in order to make the emperor agree to marry Lynet, I don’t blame him for looking so pleased with himself.”

“I hope nothing worse comes of this.” Vai looked very nervous.

“I hope so too.” Sayana began to hatch a plan. Her ladies got her dressed for bed.

“Is there anything else we can do for you, my lady?” Ardatha asked.

“Vai, I have something for you to do.” Sayana looked at the middle of the three sisters speculatively. “Ardatha, you and Faviola can go.”

“Yes, my lady.” Ardatha and Faviola left.

“My lady?” Vai asked.

“Vai, I’ve noticed over the past year that you are probably the quietest of the three of you.” Sayana watched her closely. “You don’t gossip as much as Ardatha and Faviola, though when you have something to say you aren’t shy in saying it. I think I can trust you in doing something for me that may be considered unacceptable by some but must remain a secret if possible.”

“What can I do for you, my lady? I won’t tell anyone, not even Ardatha and Faviola.” A firm look of determination crossed Vai’s face.

Sayana recorded a message for the emperor and handed it to Vai. “Can you deliver this to the emperor? I know that’s a lot to ask. It cannot fall into the hands of Lord Vasco or the other council members. It must go to him. I dare not let this go by Lord Arken. I doubt he’d send the message anyway. He’s a stickler for protocol.”

“I’ll get it to him, my lady. I know I can bribe Lucan to vouch for me. I’ll take it to him tonight.” Vai grinned. “Lucan’s easy to get around, if you know the right thing to say. And are one of the female servants.”

Sayana smiled with relief. “Thank you, Vai. Do this and then go to bed. Try to stay out of trouble if you can.”

“I will.” Vai promised as she took the message and slipped out of the room. Sayana knew that she was risking a lot sending a message to the emperor, but she needed to let him know what the courtesans feared and what they’d been discussing. And it didn’t look as if he was calling for any of them between now and the time of his marriage. She had to get the message to him somehow. Sayana went to bed, but she had a hard time falling asleep. She worried endlessly about Vai until her eyes shut of their own accord, and she drifted off.

The next morning, Vai winked at Sayana and gave her an almost imperceptible nod, letting her know without words that she’d carried out her assignment. The servants got Sayana ready for her day, and she went out to join the women with a much-relieved soul. Arken came out. “Sayana, the emperor has called for you tonight, so you’ll have to make yourself ready for him later today.”

“That’s not fair,” Lynet protested. “He’s marrying me. He shouldn’t be seeing any of his courtesans before the wedding. He should be calling for me.”

“It’s just further evidence that he doesn’t favor you, Lynet.” Zarina smirked at the woman. “That he’s being forced to marry you instead of choosing a bride he wants.”

“I don’t believe you.” Lynet finished eating and retreated to her rooms.

“It’s the truth though,” Zarina said as Lynet left. “He doesn’t favor her. He favors the rest of us. It’s so obvious I’m surprised she doesn’t see it.”

“She does see it.” Marin also watched her go. “She doesn’t want to admit we’re right.”

“She’s going to have to admit we’re right eventually.” Zarina looked at Marin.

“She will, when she’s bitter and angry and depressed and lonely.” Ji-Hye met the other two women’s gazes. “When she’s the neglected and forgotten empress of a galactic empire she has no authority over. She will remember what we said, and it will make her even more bitter and angry because she will realize we were right.”

Sayana shuddered. “I don’t look forward to that day. She may try to find some way to cause harm to us.”

“I agree. But that’s not something we have to worry about right now. Let’s get our exercises done and go out to the garden. It is a good day for it, isn’t it, Lord Arken?” Marin looked at the courtesan master hopefully.

“I was just about to say the garden is beckoning you ladies, so do your exercises and go enjoy some time in the sun.” Arken smiled.

Sayana retreated to the sunfire roses as soon as she got the chance. She stared at them and let her thoughts drift. She hoped the reason she was being called for was that the emperor had seen her message and wanted to discuss it. It could just be a coincidence, but she didn’t think it was. She hoped he wasn’t angry with her. She truly only meant it for a warning, and to let him know what the other courtesans feared.

After lunch, she read until Arken called her for her dinner. She ate and called her servants. She dressed well and waited for the Imperial guard. She was escorted to the emperor’s chamber. He was waiting for her when she entered the room. He dismissed all of his servants and his guards.

“That was a very dangerous thing you did, Sayana,” Karis said without preamble. “I can see why you did it, but if your servant had been intercepted by Vasco or someone else on the council, you’d have been found out.”

“Vai was prepared for that, Karis.” Sayana trembled a little. Was he angry with her? “She knew she couldn’t be caught with that message, so she would have come up with a story for why she was in your wing of the palace. Knowing Vai, she’d have come up with something licentious and scandalous for herself and your servant Lucan. She’s quick on her feet and absolutely trustworthy. That’s why I picked her over her two sisters.”

Karis came over and wrapped his arms around Sayana. “I do not want anything to happen to you, Sayana. That is the only reason I agreed to this farce of a marriage.” He held her close. “I had to protect you.” He paused. “I had to protect all of you.”

“I know, Karis.” Sayana wrapped her arms around him as well. It felt so good to be held by him. She would miss this after he was married. “We all do. We know that you’re not marrying Lynet because you want to.”

He guided Sayana to the couch. Instead of having her sit down next to him, he sat down and pulled her onto his lap. He held her there for several minutes. Finally, he rose and let her sit down and took the spot beside her. He took her hand and held it though, obviously wanting to hold her in some way as they spoke.

They talked about her message, about books she’d been reading, about the upcoming wedding, and about his plans to put Lynet on a shelf and still entertain his courtesans periodically over the years of his marriage instead of getting Lynet pregnant. “I intend, eventually, to have an heir from one of you ladies instead of Lynet. I will not give her that kind of power, and I will not give the council what they want – an heir with an easily controlled regent.”

Finally, the servants returned, and Karis led Sayana into the bedroom. He helped her out of her clothing and guided her to his bed. There he gave into his passion and showed her without words how he felt about her. Sayana caught on with some surprise that she was the one he’d been protecting all along, not the others. He didn’t want the others to die, that was true. But it was Sayana herself who he’d desperately wanted to protect. It was Sayana who he loved, as he murmured in her ear after they finished, “My Sayana, I love you. I wish it was you that I was marrying.”

They held each other for several minutes. Then he called for his servants. They helped her dress, and she put on her veil. She leaned down and whispered in his ear, “Karis, I feel the same.” He looked up at her with stricken eyes as she slipped out of his bedroom.

She knew that she loved Karis. For his sake, she would play her part well. If she didn’t, if she showed any sign of her feelings, Vasco would kill her and that would injure the emperor. She would hide her feelings as she’d been taught. She would show nothing of her love for Karis, and in turn, protect him from losing someone he loved to the violence of his council’s murderous ways.

It would be hard. But she could do it. She had to. It was the only way. But oh, how she wished she could be the one he was marrying and not Lynet. She wished she could be the one preparing for that happiest of days, not Lynet. And how she wished she wouldn’t have to stand there, face blank, and celebrate the marriage of a woman she despised to the man she loved because the council wanted a more malleable empress on the throne.