For the next few years, Sayana grew accustomed to her life on Covus. She cooked and cleaned for Reynard and Ethian, learned to walk the kilometer into town a couple times a week to buy supplies, and just acclimatized to a life outside the courtesan wing. She continued wearing her veil and she refused to cut her hair despite Ariah and a few other women suggesting that she do so because that would be a way to identify her as well. She kept it trimmed, but the length stayed.

It was summer. Ethian was five years old, turning six that fall. Sayana had honestly thought that the emperor would have found them by now. She wondered if he’d found the other courtesans and their sons. The gossip in town didn’t say anything about his sons, only that new laws were being passed and that he was still at odds with his council. She heard he’d replaced his other two Ministers of Transportation and his Minister of Public Affairs but that still left him with several other ministers to replace, and rumor had it that he still hadn’t replaced them all yet, so perhaps it was still safer to be on Covus.

There was no word on the empress. No one had seen her in public in the last five years, and the rumor mill out in the colonies was flying. Some said that she was dead, killed by the council because she was too much of a liability. Others said it was the emperor who’d had her killed because she’d threatened his sons. No one could get an answer from the court, so no one knew the real story. Covus’ planetary representative hadn’t been home in nearly a decade so he couldn’t shed any light on the subject either.

Sayana wondered what had happened to Lynet. She knew Karis might have taken Lynet’s actions in the wrong way. It could be he’d had her executed for her part in saving the young princes. She wouldn’t know anything about it until she returned to the palace.

It was a rather temperate summer day, and Sayana was enjoying the walk back to the house. Reynard and Ethian were waiting for her. Reynard had started training Ethian, though her son thought they were just playing interesting games. Sayana found she enjoyed these long walks by herself. They gave her a moment of privacy she didn’t get at home.

As she reached the house, she realized something was wrong. The door was open, and Ethian was crying. Sayana reached out with her psychic powers. She hadn’t used them in so long she wasn’t sure if they’d still work, but as she lowered the barriers over her mind, she could sense what was going on in the house.

She could only sense two minds clearly. There was a third, but it was barely aware of anything. One mind was frightened and almost incoherent. The other mind was angry and looking to kill someone. Sayana set down her bundles and drew the vibroblade Reynard had given her. She moved as quietly as she could up to the door and peered inside.

Reynard was on the floor. His was the mind that was barely coherent. Ethian was under the table. His was the sobbing, terrified mind. A strange man was trying to get to her son, but the child had wedged himself in a position that was impossible to get to by an adult. The man had a gun in his hand, and he was swearing. This then had to be the murderous mind she’d sensed.

“Get out here, you little shit,” he growled. “Tell me where your pretty mother is, and I’ll do you quick and painless.”

Sayana moved up behind him. He was so focused on Ethian that he didn’t hear her. “I’m right here.” Sayana grabbed him and jabbed her blade into his back. He stiffened, turning to face her. She drew her blade across his throat. He dropped.

“Mama,” Ethian choked, crawling out from under the table.

“I’m here, Ethian.” Sayana held out her arms. He ran into them, sobbing. She held him close. “Reynard, are you dying?”

“Just stunned,” Reynard groaned. “Give me a few minutes. I’ll be all right.”

“We need to get rid of the body.” Sayana looked down at the rapidly spreading pool of blood. “We can’t leave it sitting in the house, and if I call the authorities, there will be too many questions asked.”

“I know where I can dump it.” Reynard’s voice was weak and strained. “Just give me some time to get my body back. That stun blast did a number on me.”

“I’m taking Ethian into the bedroom, and then I’ll come back to help you.” Sayana picked her son up.

“Yes, get him away from the body.” Reynard was as concerned for him as she was. “I’ll manage on my own for a bit longer.”

Sayana took Ethian into his bedroom. “Ethian, mama has to go help Uncle Reynard. I want you to stay in your room until I come back for you, okay? The bad man can’t hurt you anymore. Mama made sure of that. Now I have to go help Uncle Reynard.”

“He can’t hurt me?” Ethian’s face was pale, and he was still crying.

“No, baby.” Sayana set him down and brushed the tears away. “He can’t hurt you anymore. Mama has to go though so she can help Uncle Reynard. Stay here and if you feel like you want to hide, wrap up in your blanket.”

“Yes Mama.” Ethian bounded onto his bed and curled up in his blankets. He watched her go with his big green eyes wide with fear.

Sayana stepped over the dead body and went to Reynard. She helped him sit up and sat by him until he could move again. “I didn’t hear him approaching the house. He opened the door and fired a stun blast into the house. It hit me but missed Ethian.” Reynard rubbed his legs as feeling came back into his extremities. “Ethian ran for the table as I fell. He tried to grab Ethian, but your son remembered what I taught him about finding impossible places to hide.”

“It was the council. It has to be them. They’re the only ones I can think of who would send an assassin after us.” Sayana glanced fearfully out the door.

“I can’t think of anyone else it could be either.” Reynard also looked out the door. “We’re going to have to be extra vigilant now. If they’ve found you, there’s no telling how many assassins they’re going to send when this one doesn’t report back in.”

“Wonderful,” Sayana muttered. “I was hoping it would be the emperor who found us first and instead it’s our enemies.”

“Battle plans rarely survive the first engagement, Sayana. All warmasters know this. We’ve just had our first engagement with the enemy.” Reynard put a hand on her shoulder. “Now we need to make some new plans.”

“Agreed.” Sayana nodded.

“I think I’m okay now. I’ll get rid of the body if you want to start mopping up.” He hauled himself to his feet.

“All right.” Sayana got up and retrieved the scrub brush and the bucket.

Reynard wrapped the body in a spare blanket and heaved it up onto his shoulders. Sayana got to work cleaning up the blood. “Mama? Can I come out now?” Ethian called.

“Yes Ethian, you can come out now.” Sayana was on her knees scrubbing the floor.

“The bad man is gone?” Ethian was just inside the entrance to the hallway.

“Yes Ethian, he’s gone.” Sayana glanced up at him but kept scrubbing. “Uncle Reynard has taken him away.”

“Mama wasn’t scared of him.” Ethian came into the main room and stared at his mother.

“I was very scared of him, Ethian.” Sayana rinsed out the cloth she was using and continued wiping down the floor. “I was more afraid he’d hurt you though, so I stopped him from hurting those I love.”

“Uncle Reynard was hurt.” Ethian looked around the room.

“Just stunned. He’s fine.” Sayana put the rag in the water and grabbed the scrub brush and started scrubbing again.

“Why did the bad man want to hurt me?” Ethian stared at his mother in wide-eyed shock.

Sayana sighed. “Because of your father, Ethian. You see, your father is a very important man on the Throne World. He has many enemies. That’s why we’re here with Uncle Reynard and not back home with him. We were sent away to protect us. Unfortunately, it looks like his enemies found us and sent the bad man to kill us to hurt your father. There could be other bad men like him coming to hurt us. We have to be on our guard against that.”

“More bad men?” Ethian’s hands went to cover his mouth. “I don’t want more bad men to come.”

Sayana finished cleaning the floor. She washed her hands before walking over and picking up her son. “I don’t want more bad men to come either, Ethian. Neither does Uncle Reynard. We’re going do what we can to make sure no more bad men can get to the house.”

“I’m scared, Mama.” Ethian’s voice shook.

“Mama’s scared too, Ethian.” Sayana rubbed his back. “It’ll be okay. We’ll set some things up so we’re safer. Once Uncle Reynard gets back, we’ll get things sorted out.”

“Okay, Mama.” Ethian laid his head on her shoulder and buried his face in her neck. Sayana sat down in a chair with him in her arms and just held him until Reynard returned.

“Body has been disposed of. No one should stumble across it where I left it.” Reynard looked at Ethian. “How is he?”

“I think he’s fallen asleep.” Sayana kept her voice quiet. “I’m about to go put him down on his bed. Poor boy’s worn out with fear.”

“I don’t blame him.” Reynard shook his head. “I could do with a nap myself, though I won’t be taking one.”

“I should bring the groceries in.” Sayana suddenly remembered the parcels she’d been carrying. “I almost forgot, I left them outside.”

“Put him down. I’ll go get them.” Reynard headed back outside.

Sayana took Ethian into his room and tucked him into his bed. She gave him a stuffed toy he’d been given for the winter festival the previous year to hang on to in his sleep and he snuggled down and remained asleep.

She returned to the main room as Reynard came in. “You bought a lot.” He set the three bags she’d been carrying on the counter.

“Not as much as you might think.” Sayana began sorting through the items. “I restocked on some things we were low on and bought some cheese because I want to try out a new recipe I found.”

“Cheese? You are getting fancy.” Reynard grinned

“Founding Day is coming up and I wanted to do something special for it this year.” Sayana thought of the high feasts for Founding Day and once again wondered what Karis made of the loss of his courtesans and their sons.

“That’s true. It’s next week, isn’t it?” Reynard looked thoughtful.

“Yes, it is.” Sayana started putting things away. “I’ve just sort of ignored it for the past few years. I think we ought to have a bit of a celebration for it this year, since Ethian is finally old enough to celebrate it with us.”

“I think that’s a wonderful idea.” Reynard looked around the house. “It’ll give him something to think about other than what happened today. What else did you have in mind?”

“I don’t know.” Sayana frowned. “The only Founding Day celebrations I ever went to were the high feasts at court. There were entertainments that went on between courses, but I don’t think I’m up to cooking a four or five course meal and hiring entertainers to come in and keep us amused between each course.”

“There are always things like parades and shows and things in town on Founding Day.” Reynard glanced out the window. “Tomorrow I’ll go in and find out the schedule. We can take Ethian into town for some of them. He’ll enjoy that.”

“That does sound like fun.” Sayana smiled. “That kilometer might be a bit far for Ethian to walk though.”

“We can carry him part of the way, if he gets too tired to walk the whole distance.” Reynard eyed the pile of groceries and started helping her put them away.

“True. We can.” Sayana wasn’t sure she was up to carrying Ethian into town or back home on her own.

“We can also take turns carrying him so neither of us gets too tired.” Reynard countered her objection before she could voice it. He was very good at that. It was like being with Kallam again. Sayana idly wondered how her brothers and her sister were doing.

“Yes, we can. Let’s do that. I think he’d really enjoy it.” Sayana pulled her focus back to Reynard and Ethian and tried not to think about anyone else.

The two of them finished putting the groceries away. Reynard closed the cabinet door. “I’ll go in the afternoon. That should give you some more time with him.”

“I’m sure he’ll enjoy an afternoon off from your lessons.” Sayana laughed. “Here, I’ll start lunch.”

“Sounds good.” Reynard headed for the sitting room. “I’m going to go sit down. I’m still a bit shaky.”

Founding Day came and Ethian had a very good day. They went to the parade in the morning and stayed for some of the games and the shows. They had lunch with Jhoel and Ariah. Then later in the afternoon they walked home. Ethian managed a good portion of the walk, but Sayana and Reynard still ended up carrying him part of the way. Once they got back to the house, Sayana set to work on their special dinner. Ethian was ecstatic and really enjoyed his day. He fell asleep, exhausted but happy.

Reynard went out after Ethian went to bed. Sayana sat down, exhausted but not ready to go to bed. She pulled up a book and started reading. It was so rare to have time to read these days now that Ethian was older that she took every chance she got.

Reynard returned a few hours later. “I’ve put up some defenses around the house. I didn’t want to do it while Ethian was awake. They aren’t much but they should give us some early warning of someone approaching.”

“That’s a good idea.” Sayana put her book aside.

“I’ve tied it into the comm, so it’ll just sound like a comm call. A message will appear on the screen detailing how many people are approaching and from what direction.” Reynard gestured to the unit that so rarely saw much use. “We should know before they reach the house if we’re going to have uninvited guests.”

“At least we won’t be surprised if someone from town comes to call.” Sayana knew that Jhoel and Ariah still dropped by from time to time, and it always annoyed Reynard when he didn’t know they were coming.

“No, we won’t.” Reynard gave her a serious look. “Always have your knife handy and look out the window before you open the door.”

“I will.” Sayana put her hand on the hilt of her vibroblade. She almost always wore it now. Reynard’s lessons had drilled that into her.

“Good.” Reynard stretched and yawned. “I’m for bed.”

“I should go to bed too. Morning comes quickly.” Sayana rose and turned off the lamp she was using to read by.

“I’ll see you in the morning, Sayana.” Reynard started towards the front door.

“Good night, Reynard.” Sayana made her way to her room as Reynard locked up and turned out the lights. Sayana changed and laid down. Her last thoughts were of Karis. I miss you, Karis, she thought as sleep claimed her.