Karis led Sayana to the enclave. The princes were in the training room, working out with their warmasters. The boys were sixteen and seemed to have had the typical teenage rebellion beaten out of them fairly early in the training process. At least it looked like they were all behaving for their trainers. Ethian was the one who had given his warmaster the least amount of trouble. Then again, he knew Reynard and was used to this kind of life.

Karis watched them work out for a few minutes. Jair was working his way up the climbing wall. Karis shuddered and turned away. Meinard and Hanzo were sparring hand to hand. Fallon and Ethian were working on vibroblade techniques against a pair of automatons.

“Meinard, Hanzo won’t break. We’re getting bored. Do something instead of dancing around him,” Benedikt snapped.

“Hanzo, Meinard isn’t a fragile ornament. Rush him, kick his feet out from under him, do something,” Cyprian snapped at the same time.

Meinard rushed Hanzo. Hanzo sidestepped him and tripped him. Meinard went down but was back on his feet almost instantly before Hanzo could react. Meinard swept Hanzo’s feet out from under him and the other young man went down. He didn’t bounce up as fast as Meinard did and Meinard pinned him.

“Hanzo, too slow.” Cyprian glared at the young prince.

“Meinard, you took too long. If you’re surprised by an assassin, they’re not going to dance around with you.” Benedikt gave Meinard a stern look. “What are you going to do if you’re attacked?”

“Dazzle them with my sparkling wit until help arrives.” Meinard shrugged as he stood up. He held out his hand and pulled his brother to his feet.

“This is not a joking matter,” Benedikt growled. “What we’re teaching you could save your life one day.”

“Good morning, Father.” Hanzo was the first to notice the fact that they had watchers. “Good morning, Sayana.”

“Good morning, Hanzo.” Sayana smiled at him.

“Fallon, blade down,” Azariah ordered as he hit the button that terminated the automatons’ programming.

“Ethian, blade down,” Reynard instructed.

Jair, who’d reached the top of the wall, slid down a rope. All five princes came over to greet the Imperial couple. “Father, how long are you going to wait before you announce Ethian as crown prince?” Jair asked.

“I will announce who my heir is when you are eighteen. It may not be Ethian.” Karis didn’t want his sons to think about that right now.

“We are not idiots, Father.” Meinard crossed his arms over his chest. “You married Sayana. You spent the longest time looking for her and Ethian when the whole court told you to abandon them. You had five of us back. There was no reason for you to keep searching for Sayana and Ethian, no offense Sayana, other than because Ethian was your heir.”

“I was searching for them because I promised Sayana I would marry her, and I was determined to keep that promise.” From the looks on four of his sons’ faces, they didn’t believe him. Ethian looked surprised his brothers would think he was the heir, which was endearing to Karis.

“That may convince your court and your council, but it does not convince us, Father.” Fallon spoke quietly but the others all turned towards him, listening. “You death locked the name of your heir when we were all infants. Or so my servant told me. There was never any question as to which one of us it was. It has been Ethian this entire time. Even if you had never married Sayana, your heir would still have been Ethian.”

Karis regarded his sons. “What if it is Ethian?” The look of shock on Ethian’s face was matched only by resignation on his other sons’ faces.

“It leaves us in the same position as our mothers, unnecessary and without purpose.” Hanzo now spoke for the rest of them.

“Did you think I would not find places for all of you even after I named my heir next year?” Karis looked at them all. “You are turning seventeen this fall. We have one more year before I officially announce Ethian as crown prince. I do have plans to train all of you the same way I train Ethian, as well as encouraging you to specialize in something so we can place you in a position in the government.”

“You are not just going to abandon the rest of us?” Jair seemed surprised by this.

“I told you all he was not going to just leave us to our own devices.” Meinard glared at his brothers. “You did not believe me.”

“Meinard is right.” Karis met each of his sons’ eyes. “I plan on finding a place for each of you.”

“That is good to know.” Fallon sighed. “I just wish you could do something for my mother.”

“I hope to find a way to help your mothers.” Sayana surprised Karis with this. “I do not want them to sit bored and forgotten in the courtesan wing.”

“Thank you, Sayana.” Meinard smiled at her. “We appreciate it.”

“Now, I will thank all of you to keep the fact Ethian is my heir quiet. My court may try to approach him, but none of you are to confirm that until next year when I announce it officially.” Karis didn’t need anyone trying to take out Ethian to muddle the line of succession.

“I will not even tell my servant.” Jair spoke first. “Or my scholar teacher.” The other princes made similar promises. Ethian agreed to keep silent about it as well. What else could he do? He didn’t look prepared for such a monumental task, and Karis knew he was taking a risk naming the one son who’d been gone the longest as his chosen successor.

However it wouldn’t take much to educate the princes in Imperial history and politics. Two to three years would be enough. Then he could settle them all into new positions in the government and he would begin training Ethian in earnest.

If he had that long. Karis hoped he would have the time he needed to train Ethian. His father and grandfather had been assassinated when their heirs were only nineteen, so he was taking a huge risk. He knew that. But it was worth it to him if it meant his sons were well-educated and well-trained young men. There would be less of a chance of an assassin killing one of them with the training they were receiving. Ethian was the safest of the five of them having had nearly twelve years of Reynard’s training.

“I appreciate all of you making that promise.” Karis smiled. “Now, should you not be practicing?”

“Yes, they should.” Reynard took the obvious cue. “Ethian, get back to the blade work.”

“Fallon, you too,” Azariah ordered.

“Jair, enough time on the wall. Get your vibroblade and join your brothers in blade practice.” Teodor pointed to the automatons.

“Meinard, Hanzo, let’s see less dancing and more fighting,” Benedikt instructed.

The princes scattered back to their practice. Karis watched them for a few more minutes before leading Sayana out of the room and back down to their chambers. “Imre, can you please let Demetrios know I want to talk to him?” Karis glanced at his valet.

“I’ll let him know you’re ready for him.” Imre sent the message.

“Karis, Ethian is the least prepared of the five to be the crown prince.” Sayana paused. “I’m not trying to speak ill of my own son.”

“You know him better than anyone because you had so long with him.” Karis understood her concern. “It is only natural for you to say something. And you are right. Of the five, Ethian is the least prepared for his position. None of them are ready for it, but the others have been a part of court far longer. Ethian does have that working against him. He will have to pay a lot more attention to the Imperial scholar when they take over his studies next year because he will need to learn the politics that the others have assimilated from experience.”

“Do you think he’ll be able to master what he needs to know?” Sayana’s anxiety was apparent in the way she twisted her hands together and the concern on her face.

Karis reached over and caught her hands in his. “It will be all right, my heart. Fallon was gone ten years and only had a few years to get used to it and he learned quickly. I think Ethian will pick up on what he needs to. Especially since he and Fallon seem to be so close. Fallon will help him when he gets stuck.”

Demetrios entered a few minutes later. “I’m sure you want answers, Your Imperial Majesties. Both on the attempt last night and this morning.”

“Answers would be very nice, if you have them,” Karis said.

“I can’t say who tried to kill you last night because the one who survived was hired by a group leader who was the one who knew who paid them for the job.” Demetrios consulted his pad. “I can say who tried to kill the empress this morning.”

Karis sat up a little straighter. “Go on.”

“Lady Darja Falk of Tasopra paid two servants to put poison in her juice and in dishes she’d bribed a servant in the courtesan wing to learn were some of the empress’ favorites.” Demetrios grimaced. “The lady in question is the sister to one of two lords who have openly declared they do not support your marriage and are arming their worlds to force you to set aside the empress and marry Lady Darja.”

“What lords are these?” Karis hadn’t heard of this insurrection.

“Lord Petyr Falk of Tasopra and Lord Magni Vossen of Iehiri.” Demetrios looked at his notes again. “I’ve informed Lord Durden of their mobilization and he’s already preparing to dispatch some warmasters, troops, and ships with your approval. He should be here shortly.”

“A war is to be fought over me?” Sayana’s face was a mask of horror.

“It’s not a war, Your Imperial Majesty.” Demetrios shook his head. “Lord Durden would call something like this a minor misunderstanding.”

“It is still armed insurrection, regardless of what name you give it.” Karis sighed. “It will not be tolerated. I will take Durden’s report and see what he has in mind.” Demetrios bowed and left the room.

Lord Durden arrived a short time later. “I ran into Demetrios. He told me he warned you I was coming.”

“He did. What is the current situation?” Karis waited to see what his Warmaster General had to say about it.

“Lord Petyr and Lord Magni have mobilized their planets against you, Your Imperial Majesty. They’re having trouble getting their troops to take the field, however.” Durden was not unhappy about that. “The vast majority of the people of the empire don’t seem to care that you’ve married Her Imperial Majesty. Their troops don’t want to fight for a cause they don’t believe in, but as these men are the Lord Governors of their respective worlds they still have to obey. Lady Darja has left the Throne World and is on route to Tasopra to join her brother. We moved to take her, but she got away from us.”

“She is more slippery than I expected.” Karis scowled.

“I’m prepared to send five warmasters and a quarter of the navy to deal with this, with another three warmasters and another full unit of the navy in reserve if something goes wrong.” Durden waited for Karis’ approval.

“Do it.” Karis paused. “Have another two warmasters and their troops on standby beyond that and another unit of the navy as well. Just in case.”

“Understood, Your Imperial Majesty.” Durden bowed. “We should be able to defeat them with our initial force, but having multiple lines of backup will be useful.” He turned and left the room.

Sayana burst into tears. Karis wrapped his arms around her and let her cry onto his shoulder. She was so sensitive to the suffering of others and an incident like this could lead to extensive collateral damage, a fact that was not lost on either of them. “So much death because of me.” Sayana sobbed into his shoulder.

“My heart, listen to me.” Karis shifted around so he was holding her by the shoulders and looking her in the eyes. Her luminous green eyes were full of tears and anguish. “This is not your fault. This is because certain people in the empire cannot abide by the fact that they were told no. They are incredibly spoiled individuals who have never learned that the universe has limits that they have to adhere to.”

“But to try to poison me, and risk killing you in the process, and then to start an insurrection.” Sayana was heartbroken.

“My heart, the insurrection already started. It probably began during the lead up to the marriage. I doubt those lords were at the wedding. Darja probably was, which is how she was able to bribe the servants to try to poison you.” Karis sighed. “But her brother would have been mobilizing as soon as I announced I was marrying you. If it is anyone’s fault, it is mine for not putting a stop to it before it got this far.”

“Does this happen often?” Sayana looked around for something she could wipe her eyes and nose on. Imre surreptitiously handed her a handkerchief. She smiled at him and took the proffered item.

“Not often, but it does happen.” Karis grimaced. “And sometimes it is over the stupidest things. I know my father put one down in his day because he changed a trade route and two planets which had been previously overwhelmed by the number of ships landing on them to the point where they requested Imperial aid were given a respite. Those two planets rebelled against my father because they lost money.”

“What did they want?” Sayana was curious despite the situation they were facing.

“No one knew but my father suspected, and this was one of those rare times where I agreed with him, that they secretly wanted him to restrict the shipping lanes through the system, so everyone had to deal with a decrease and not just them.” Karis frowned in thought as he tried to remember the exact details. “That was not something my father was planning on doing. He just adjusted the trade route, with the help of the former Ministers of Transportation before they became so power hungry, and expanded it to include another system with similar qualities.”

“Did that not affect the whole system?” Sayana could see what most people would have seen.

“You would think so, but actually, it only affected two worlds.” Karis leaned back into the couch and drew up the memory of that conversation with the council. He’d been seventeen, so had only sat in on the council meetings and had never dared to venture an opinion of his own. “Those two worlds were the most diverse in what they offered and had a ton of manufacturing depots churning out numerous products. The second system father included in the trade route had four worlds with a dynamic trade environment with completely different items. The two worlds were still necessary, but they were no longer the only draw on the trade route.”

“They got what they wanted, and they threw a fit.” Sayana frowned. “That doesn’t make sense.”

“It did not make sense to me either.” Karis shook his head. “My father just dealt with it as if he were used to such things. I checked the Imperial historical archives. My father dealt with forty three insurrections during his reign. I have been emperor for almost as long as he was and have yet to deal with more than a handful of insurrections. I think my method of rule is more successful than my father’s.”

“You are a kind, generous, compassionate man, Karis.” Sayana smiled. “That means a lot to me, and I’m certain it means a lot to others.”

“Thank you, my heart.” Karis took her hand and kissed her fingers. “I only hope I can continue as I have started.”

Karis picked up his pad after a few minutes. “What do you have to do this morning?” Sayana looked over his shoulder at the paperwork he pulled up.

“Read through some proposals sent to me by various lords.” Karis looked at her thoughtfully. “Actually, this is something you can help me with now.”

“How?” Sayana was confused. “I know nothing of politics.”

“You do know how an ordinary citizen of my empire thinks.” Karis knew she could be useful in this. “Some of these will directly affect them. I would like you to read through them and make some notes. Let me know if there is anything particularly damaging. I might not see it because I sometimes only see what affects the court or the businesses of the empire.”

“All right.” Sayana went and got her pad. “Send them to me. I can at least try.” She smiled. “It will be nice to have something to do.”

“It will also give you an idea of the shape of politics in the empire.” Karis looked at her. “These proposals and the audiences are a good way to see the political beast in action.”

Karis skimmed through his queue and sent a third of the petitions and proposals sitting in his inbox to Sayana. He heard her pad chime and saw her begin immediately. Karis got to work on what was left. There weren’t many hours left in the morning, and he wanted to see how much he could do before lunch.

Imre and Ardatha returned with their lunch. Karis continued reading while he ate. He noticed Sayana followed his example. Ardatha made an exasperated noise. “I have work to do, Ardatha. This isn’t for pleasure.”

“Yes, Your Imperial Majesty.” It was clear from her tone that Ardatha didn’t approve.

“You’ll get used to this, Ardatha.” Imre was more amused than disapproving these days. “He does this often. We just have to get them ready for the audiences after they’re done eating.”

“All right, Imre.” Ardatha sighed with resignation. “I hope they’re not up too late working tonight.”

“They won’t be up past midnight.” The note of firmness in Imre’s voice made Karis chuckle a little. “He has a curfew.”

“I see.” Ardatha sounded quite firm herself when she spoke. “I will enforce that curfew with Her Imperial Majesty as well then.”

“As early as I get up, midnight is the absolute latest I’m going to want to stay up.” Sayana sounded defensive.

Karis continued working until he finished eating. Sayana was already finished and had been taken off by her servants to be dressed for the audiences. Karis saved his place and tossed his pad onto the low table in front of the couch. “All right, Imre. Get me ready for these stars’ cursed things.” He sighed.

“You can always cancel them, Your Imperial Majesty.” Imre managed to keep a straight face.

“You know I will not cancel them without good cause.” Karis grimaced. “I do have some sense of responsibility.”

Imre smiled. “I know, but I’m sure your court would understand if you wanted to spend the day after your wedding with your wife.”

“The thought crossed my mind, Imre.” Karis grinned ruefully. “But with the insurrection going on, I want to head off any further discontent to avoid more distress for her.”

“Understandable.” Imre called for Adem and Lucan and they got Karis dressed for his audiences.

Karis was ready before Sayana, and he waited for her in the main room. She emerged with her hair twisted into a braided coil and dressed exquisitely in a gown of midnight blue trimmed with silver and rainbow sapphires. She wore a very familiar set of rainbow sapphire jewelry. He’d seen her wear it a few times during their nights together. He smiled. “You look lovely, Sayana.”

“Thank you.” Sayana settled her skirt. “We went for simple with my hair because we didn’t want to keep you waiting too long.”

“Shall we go?” Karis held out his arm. Sayana placed her hand on his arm and the two left their chambers. A large group of Imperial guards fell in around them and escorted them to the throne room.