It took Sayana a little time to bring herself back under control after her crying fit. By the time Ethian and Reynard returned from their fighting practice, she was able to project an air of calm that she didn’t entirely feel. She smiled as they walked tiredly through the door.

“You know the rules.” She pointed. “Go bathe. I’ll start dinner.”

“Ethian, you go first.” Reynard nodded. “I want to talk to your mother.”

“Yes, Uncle Reynard.” Ethian trotted off towards the bathroom.

“He’s very distressed, Sayana.” Reynard waited to speak until Ethian was safely out of hearing range. “He doesn’t want to go to the Throne World, though he understands he doesn’t have a choice in the matter. It’s not leaving here that bothers him so much. It’s losing touch with you that has him so tied up in knots.”

“I know.” Sayana sighed. “And there’s nothing I can do. He’s had nearly four more years with me than he would have if he’d been raised in the courtesan wing. There I’d have been preparing him for the day we were separated from the time he was very young. Here, I didn’t dare talk about it for fear of giving away too much who his father really was.”

“I understand.” Reynard put a hand on her shoulder. “Just be aware that he might backslide, and I may have to resort to some harsh treatment of him while we’re on the Throne World, at least in the beginning.”

“I will probably hear something of his behavior from my servants, if I’m assigned the same three I had in the past.” Sayana smiled. “Ardatha and her sisters were inveterate gossips and told me everything that went on at court. I’m sure they’ll find out what’s going on with the princes and fill me in on it daily if I were to ask them.”

“Those kinds of servants are invaluable, and I hope you get them back.” Reynard smiled. Ethian reappeared a few minutes later and Reynard went off to take his shower.

“Mother, what’s it going to be like on the Throne World?” Ethian was subdued but at least he was asking questions.

“I can’t tell you what it’s going to be like for you because I don’t know.” Sayana looked over at him as she cooked. “My experience is limited to my arrival, my departure, and the courtesan wing. I do know there are several million people on the Throne World, so expect to see more people than you have here. Do not trust anything the courtiers say. They’re all duplicitous and out for themselves first and the good of the empire second. They may be completely harmless, or they may be looking for a way to kill you.”

“Would they really try to kill me?” Ethian’s eyes widened.

“Yes, Ethian, they would.” Sayana fixed him with a grim stare. “People in the Imperial court are forever trying to eliminate each other. I never paid that much attention to who was doing it to whom because it didn’t affect me, except in the case of the council and Lord Vasco because they did directly threaten me, but my servants told me all sorts of stories about the court.”

“You had servants?” Ethian was startled by that.

“I had three sisters who served me.” Sayana stirred the pot so dinner wouldn’t burn. “If I’m right, you’ll end up with servants when you get back as well. Treat them with respect, always thank them for their service, and don’t make unreasonable demands on them. Even if you can do it yourself, understand that what they’re doing is their job and let them do it. I had to learn that when I first arrived at the palace.”

“You weren’t used to servants?” As long as Ethian kept asking questions, it meant he was thinking. If she could keep him thinking about things, it would be better overall. She kept answering him.

“No, I wasn’t.” Sayana tasted what she was cooking and added a little more pepper. “At the academy, we did everything for ourselves except for the cleaning, laundry, and cooking. Oh, that’s something else you’ll have to get used to. Working with stylists and tailors. The fashion at court fluctuates drastically on a regular basis, so your wardrobe must change to match.”

“How often is ‘on a regular basis’?” Ethian frowned.

“We changed our wardrobe anywhere from ten to twenty times a year.” Sayana laughed at a memory. “One fashion I can remember lasted a week and then we changed it again because people realized how ridiculously uncomfortable it was. I noticed that Lord Arken, the eunuch in charge of the courtesan wing, changed his wardrobe less often than we women did, so it may be that the men change their fashion less frequently than the women do.”

“Will I be required to attend court events?” Ethian seemed frightened at the prospect.

“I don’t know how much of court the other princes are attending, but I imagine you’ll have to attend at least the high feasts. Those are rather dull affairs punctuated by some reasonably entertaining moments.” Sayana added a few more herbs to their dinner and stirred it again. “They happen a few times a year. They can last several hours. There’s the three days leading up to Founding Day and three set at various times during the winter festival. The emperor’s birthday is another one. So is your grandfather’s birthday. I don’t know if he’s declared your birthdays high feast days or not. If he has, that’s two months with six high feast days spread between them. Oh stars, I hope he hasn’t done that. That’s a lot of high feasts.”

“I take it you don’t like high feasts?” Ethian sounded interested so she kept talking.

“You know we’re both allergic to chocolate.” Ethian nodded. “They serve chocolate desserts all the time at these things. And we are required to eat and drink whatever we’re given. I end up vomiting by the end of the night. Then there’s the wine.”

“The wine?” Ethian looked at her curiously.

“I hate wine.” Sayana made a face. “I get away with only drinking half a glass of the stuff, but I have to be seen drinking it or it will go poorly for me.”

“Would I be required to drink wine?” Ethian wanted to know.

“I’d say you’re too young, but I saw children as young as eight drinking it so it’s quite possible. I find it disgusting, but you may find it enjoyable. Just don’t drink more than one glass full if you don’t want to end up drunk.” Sayana held up a warning finger. “And believe me, you don’t want to embarrass yourself, your father, or me by getting drunk at a high feast.”

“Certainly not.” Ethian shook his head. “I’ll be careful. Is the food different?”

“Very different.” Sayana realized Ethian was going to have the same trouble with it that she’d had when she first went to court. “We eat very plain, simple food. The food at court is often very rich, very complex. It’s good, just overwhelming at first when you start eating it. I had a hard time eating everything I was given when I first arrived. It was too much for me, though I eventually grew accustomed to it. It took me about a week, maybe a week and a half, to get to the point where I could eat everything on my plate.”

“You don’t know anything about my brothers.” This wasn’t a question.

“The only thing I know is your brother Rhys is giving your father trouble.” Sayana frowned. “He let that slip. If Rhys is giving your father trouble, there’s a high likelihood he’ll give you problems.”

“There’s six of us?” Ethian seemed to want to be sure he’d heard her right on that number.

“Unless one of the boys died in the past fifteen years, yes, there are six of you.” Sayana reaffirmed what she’d said earlier. “I don’t know if any of the others are still in hiding, though from reading context clues I doubt it. I think I’m the last.”

“Mother, why did you go into hiding?” Ethian seemed very intent on her answer. “I know you’ve told me that father had some powerful enemies and they threatened him, but what exactly happened?”

Sayana sighed. “They didn’t threaten him, Ethian. They threatened you. You and your brothers. We felt we had no choice but to go into hiding to save your lives.”

“Do you miss the other courtesans?” Ethian looked at her curiously.

“I do.” Sayana smiled. “We were in competition with each other for the emperor’s favor, but the only one who saw it that way was Angharad. The rest of us realized we were all in the same shuttle together and if we got along, we’d have a much pleasanter time of it. The position of Imperial courtesan isn’t like most ordinary courtesan positions, Ethian.”

“It isn’t?” Ethian was a bit young to learn about courtesans, but if he was asking, she was going to tell him.

“No. An ordinary courtesan spends around thirty or forty years taking patrons and earning a living by providing entertainment and sexual favors. At the end of that time, they retire. Their academy gives them their portion of the money they’ve earned, and they can either take that money and go settle down on some planet somewhere, or they can save that money with their academy again and take up a role as a teacher.” Sayana wondered what Kallam was doing with his life.

“Okay.” Ethian frowned. “So that’s a normal courtesan. How does being an Imperial courtesan differ from that?”

“An Imperial courtesan never officially retires. They may get too old to appeal to their patron – for we can be contracted for any member of the Imperial family, but they never leave the courtesan wing until the day they die.” Sayana looked out the window at the growing twilight as she thought of the next part. “And their death is determined either by old age, mischance, or their patron’s death.”

“Old age and mischance I understand.” Ethian sounded confused. “But what does their patron’s death have to do with a courtesan’s death?”

“When their patron dies, their courtesans are required to take poison and follow them into death.” Sayana didn’t like remembering this part of her life. “Regardless of their age and health.”

“What?” Ethian demanded.

“Your father is working on changing that, but because it’s a tradition that stretches back to the Founding itself, he hasn’t had much luck in convincing people that he needs to change it.” Sayana turned her attention back to her son. “It goes back to the time when we were slaves and not contracted. Though slavery has been abolished, we’re still named in a very old law, so we have no choice.”

“You’re going back into isolation and potential forced suicide, Mother.” Ethian was appalled by her apparent acceptance of her life.

“Yes, I am. It is a place I should never have left. The fact that your father is being so understanding and taking me back is remarkable in and of itself.” She shrugged. “It’s not all bad. I’ll have free time again to resume my studies, and there are the long, rambling talks with your father to look forward to again.”

“Can you honestly say that makes up for what you have to endure?” Ethian demanded.

“It’s something I accepted as a possibility when I became a courtesan, Ethian.” Sayana rubbed her forehead. “Granted, I never expected it to become my reality, but it was something that loomed over me from the time I learned what an Imperial courtesan was. I thought I was too young to be one. Then your father became emperor at nineteen and a few years later needed courtesans. Lord Tremere came to Atania looking for clever women, and I made the mistake of showing that I was very intelligent. Lord Tremere thought I fit what your father was looking for and I was chosen. I adapted to my position in life before I ever had you, Ethian. I am still resigned to my life in the courtesan wing of the Imperial palace.”

“It’s part of being an adult, boy.” Reynard had been listening to them talk. “You learn to make the best of whatever situation you find yourself in. I wasn’t kidding when I said I’d never intended to be a warmaster. I never even thought of joining the military until I was forced into it. I could have protested like so many of those in my age group did about being called up and pressed into service. Instead, I made the best of a bad situation and found I had a talent I didn’t know I had. I became good at my job and was rewarded for it. I made my life have meaning. You now have the chance to do the same thing.”

“You think being an Imperial prince is kind of like being a warmaster?” Ethian turned and looked at the older man.

“In your case, the way it’s happening to you, yes I do.” Reynard nodded. “You’re being called up and pressed into service in a role you never expected to find yourself in. You have the chance to do some good, if you’re given the chance.”

“I don’t like it.” Ethian frowned. “But as you said, you didn’t like going to war. And mother didn’t like the idea of being an Imperial courtesan. Yet both of you made your lives work for you.”

“We did.” Sayana smiled. “Each of us has a purpose in this universe, Ethian. There are some who never find out what that is. There are others who do. When you are given an opportunity to find that purpose, you can’t run away from it. You must face it boldly and accept what comes of it.”

“Yes Mother.” Ethian sounded a little surer of himself. Sayana hoped that this conversation would carry him through the bitter separation that was coming. “Mother, do you love me?”

“I love you with all my heart, Ethian.” Sayana heard the crack in her voice. “I will be thinking of you every day.”

“I’ll miss you, Mother.” Ethian came over and hugged her. “I’ll think of you every day too.”

“You’ll probably be too busy to think of me all that often once we get back.” Sayana blinked back tears. “But thank you.”

“How about we take some holo stills? That way you each have a holo still of the other to keep close, so you can remember each other more easily?” Reynard asked.

“A good idea.” Sayana glanced out the window. “We can go outside and take the stills.”

Sayana gave their dinner a quick stir and put it on to simmer. Then the three of them walked outside. They picked a spot full of trees and flowers as their backdrop. Reynard took a still of Ethian and one of Sayana. He handed each of them the holo still of the other. Sayana went in and tucked hers into her luggage. She figured Ethian was doing the same with his.

After dinner, Sayana gave Ethian their final lesson together. She sent him to bed and tucked her pad into her luggage. “I’m packed.” Reynard stood in her doorway.

“I am too.” Sayana gestured to her case. “So is Ethian. I packed for him earlier today.”

“Then it’s just a matter of eating breakfast and cleaning up and then walking into town tomorrow.” Reynard nodded.

“Yes. I’ll be wearing one of my dresses, though I refuse to walk to town in the flats. I’ll wear my boots until we reach the ship. I’ll change my shoes then.” Sayana glanced at the dress she’d laid out. It was slightly wrinkled from being packed away so long, but she didn’t think Karis would mind.

Reynard nodded. “Good idea. Your light shoes are well suited for the palace, or a ship. Not the path from here to town.”

“I suppose, with everything taken care of, we should go to bed.” Sayana looked around her room for anything else she was missing.

“You go on.” Reynard smiled. “I’ll head to bed in a little bit.”

“Okay.” She went to bed, leaving Reynard alone with his thoughts.

The next morning, Sayana rose at her usual time. She did her morning exercises as she had every morning for the past fifteen years, took a quick shower, and braided and coiled her hair up. She pulled on the dress and her boots. The boots were a little incongruous with the silk dress, but she’d fix that when she got to the emperor’s ship. She went out to the kitchen.

Ethian was already up. He didn’t say a word. He just got up and hugged her. She put him to work chopping vegetables for the scramble she was making. By the time Reynard came out, they were sliding the food onto the table.

Reynard served up three plates and they ate. They drank the last of the juice. Ethian did the dishes. Sayana tidied up the house one last time before they retrieved their luggage. Sayana fastened her veil on her face and followed the other two out of the house. Reynard locked the door behind him.

Sayana was lost in her thoughts as they walked the kilometer back into town. The whole place was buzzing about the emperor’s ship being there. They saw Sayana, Ethian, and Reynard coming in with luggage in tow. “Reynard? Are you leaving?” someone asked.

“For a couple years.” Reynard looked at Jhoel. “I intend to be back though, so my house better be left alone for when I do return.”

“No problem,” Jhoel assured him. “We’ll keep an eye on it for you. Is your sister going to be back with you?”

“No.” Sayana shook her head. “Ethian’s father has settled his troubles finally. We’re going back to be with him.”

“You know, doesn’t Ethian look an awful lot like the emperor?” someone asked.

“Now that you mention it, he does kind of look like him,” someone else agreed.

Sayana said nothing as they made their way to the emperor’s ship. The guards waved them on board. Servants waited to guide Ethian and Reynard in one direction and Sayana another. Ethian hugged his mother tightly before following those leading him away.