Chapter Thirteen

Katanes, the Open Skies

Arta soared through the skies above the mountains on Ezi's back, glorying in the freedom of flight.

It had been several days now since she'd first managed to deliberately channel energy through her hands, and since then, Shiran had had her working as hard as she could to learn to do it will, without needing to use meditation and breathing exercises. So far, she hadn't managed that, though she had significantly reduced the amount of time necessary to manifest her ability. The Professor also had her working through exercises designed to enhance her strength and the speed of her reactions, though he warned her not to use this technique when sparring with either Karani or the training mechs. "Adepts have never been common enough to be officially banned from duels, tournaments, or sporting events," he'd told her, "but that doesn't mean people will react well if you use your abilities in that context – you'll be seen as a cheater, or worse. I'm teaching you these techniques so you can defend yourself, not so you can use them to show off or win contests, and I don't want you to become too dependent on them."

Arta had been a bit hurt that Shiran had thought she would use her abilities so frivolously (though a part of her had to admit that there was a certain appeal to the thought…) and had thrown herself into her training with all the energy she could muster. Added to her regular lessons with her new tutor, her training with her sword, and periodically sitting in with her foster-father while he conducted planetary business, it all left Arta with very little time for herself. What time she had, though, she spent flying.

Ezi gave a great beat of her wings as she shot over the mountains, and Arta laid down low along her neck and placed her palm along the dragon's side. She'd heard stories about Adepts who could link their minds with those of animals, forging an empathic connection that allowed them to see through their eyes and feel their thoughts. Shiran hadn't taught her anything of the sort, and it seemed like it might skirt a little too close to the dangerous techniques for manipulating people that he'd mentioned, but perhaps if she just tested it a little, it couldn't hurt. Closing her eyes, Arta focused on her breathing as she'd practiced, and then let her awareness shift not into her hand or her body, but into Ezi. She could feel the izdakan's dry, leathery skin, her heavy breathing, even the beating of her mighty heart deep inside… but there was nothing of the feel of her Adept's abilities at work, and no connection to her mount beyond that which she could feel with her mundane senses. Arta sighed and opened her eyes. Maybe everything people said about what Adepts could do really wasn't true – or maybe, she thought ruefully, she just wasn't very good. Either way, this experiment was a failure.

A short time later, Arta brought Ezi circling down and landed her on one of the platforms lining the izdakan stable. She slid down the dragon's back and gave her an affectionate scratch on the chin before handing her over to be cared for by the stable hands. She pulled off her flight mask as she walked towards the exit and was surprised to find Karani waiting beside it.

"Had a feeling I'd find you somewhere around here," her foster-sister said, waving towards her. "Come on. Shiran wants to see us."

Arta took up a position beside Karani and the two of them made their way into a lift and began to drop towards the main body of the palace. After several moments of silence, she turned to look at her sister.

"So," she said, "do you still think that the Professor is some sort of conman? Or have you decided he really is an Adept after all?"

"Well, he's obviously something," Karani said. "And if you say you're an Adept – well, after the other day, I believe you. Lord this is weird, though." She held up a hand in front of her face and regarded it critically. "And why couldn't I be an Adept too, anyway? I think that blue glow would make me look awesome."

Arta felt a sudden surge of irritation and fought it down. "Well, it's a very rare ability," she said. "Honestly, it's amazing that there was even one person in this palace the Professor found who he could teach."

"Yeah," Karani muttered. "Amazing coincidence, isn't it?" She looked uncharacteristically thoughtful for a long moment, then looked at Arta out of the corner of her eye. "I don't suppose he's said anything else about… you know what, has he?"

Arta shook her head. "No," she said. "He hasn't mentioned it, and I'm afraid if I bring it up, he'll just dodge the question. I just think that if he wanted to talk about my mother, he would have already. But I can't figure out why he's holding back."

"Maybe he doesn't know anything, and he just let that bit slip so he could get you to let him teach you," Karani said, shrugging, but Arta could tell from the look on her face that she didn't really believe it. "I still think he's up to something."

"You're just not going to let that one go, are you?" Arta asked, smiling.

"Nope!" Karani said with a wink. A moment later, the lift stopped, and the two girls stepped out into the palace's main hall. At the moment it was empty, save for Shiran who stood by one of the walls regarding the row of ast Katanes ancestors whose portraits hung along it.

"Ah, there you are," he said, turning to face them as they approached. "I believe I told you both that I wanted to have you do things beyond merely sitting and listening to me lecture. Today, I've decided, will be the first of these lessons. If you don't mind, I'd like you to accompany me to the flitter bays. We're going to be taking a trip to Tannen City."

"The city?" Karani asked. "It's near the middle of the afternoon. It'll be night by the time we get there. What are we going to do, go the opera?" Arta suppressed a smile at the indignant look on her foster-sister's face – anything that required Karani to sit still and be quiet for an extended period wasn't something she was liable to do voluntarily if she could at all avoid it.

Shiran chuckled and turned to walk towards the door that led from the main hall to the flitter bay, the sisters hurrying to keep up. "No, we're not going to the opera," he said. "We're going to be seeing a performance that's far more lively – and lifelike. The city itself. I've stowed some cloaks for you to put on in the flitter; this isn't an official visit, and I want you to be incognito. A leader should know their people."

"Wait, so you're saying that we're going to be seeing Tannen City's nightlife up close and personal?" Karani asked, a smile making its way across her face. "That sounds more interesting!"

Shiran regarded her flatly. "Karani," he said, "I'm not your father, but he has placed you and your sister in my care for the evening, and if tomorrow morning was to find you severely hungover, I doubt I'd be employed here for much longer. As you're still underage, that means no drinking." Arta had to suppress a giggle at the crestfallen look on her sister's face.

Her mind then shifted to more practical concerns. "Are you sure it will be safe?" she asked. "I mean, the last time we were in the city, someone tried to kill us. What if they try again?"

Shiran merely regarded her calmly, and Arta suddenly felt that there was very little, in Tannen City or elsewhere in the Dozen Stars, that would be much of a threat to this man or to anyone in his company. She found herself wondering yet again just how far his Adept's gifts extended.

A short time later, the three of them had boarded a small silver flitter and launched from the palace with Shiran at the controls, their destination Tannen City.

/

"They're away," Danash said, looking up from his tablet to where his Baron sat behind his desk. "The Professor estimates they'll be gone several hours but return before midnight." He looked up at the Baron and his gaze softened. "They'll be all right," he said.

"I know," Varas said. "It would probably take a fully-armed warship to hurt that man and anyone under his protection. The girls are probably safer with him than they are anywhere else on this planet, including the palace. Still, what sort of a father would I be if I didn't worry?" He stood and walked over to the window with his hands clasped behind his back.

Varas stood there for several very long minutes, watching the mountains and sky of Katanes, his beloved, beautiful planet, the Barony that had been in his and his family's charge for generations. Finally, he sighed. "So, Arta is an Adept," he finally said.

"Did you know she would be?" Danash asked.

The Baron shook his head. "I knew it was possible," he said. "I never knew if that possibility would actually realize itself until this week. I wasn't expecting Shiran to tell her – certainly not so soon. He usually prefers to play things closer to the chest, but he told me something recently had made him think that getting things out in the open earlier would be better for everyone." Varas smiled thinly. "He wouldn't tell me what, of course. If he had, I'd have wondered who this new, open and forthcoming person was and what he'd done with the Professor. Some things in this universe are simply constants, and that man's love of secrets is one of them." He turned back to Danash. "Speaking of secrets, any updates on the assassination investigation?"

"Not much," Danash admitted. "The prisoners seem to have told all they know, which doesn't amount to a lot – none of them still have clear memories of the person who hired them. I asked Shiran shortly after we hired them, and he said that a very skilled Adept could do something like that, but that hardly gives us any more leads than we had – it's not as if there's an Adepts’ Guild we can go to for information." He chuckled slightly at his own joke before turning serious again. "On the other hand, I heard back from the Regent's office on Carann, and it seems that none of their intelligence agents were on Katanes when the attempt took place. They assure me they've changed their codes and are looking into whoever used a forged one to get past security and land at Tannen that day. Lord only knows if they'll actually tell us what they find – if they find anything."

Varas shook his head. "Well, I don't suppose we could expect much more than that," he said. "Still, send instructions to the patrol ships and to the spaceport authorities to watch out if anyone tries to use the old codes to sneak through again – and to alert me if they receive any code the purports to be from an intelligence officer on world. Better safe than sorry."

"It will be done," Danash said, scrolling down to the next item on his tablet. "Ah, some news that might interest you. It seems that the regent and Duke Hiram's forces engaged our pirate problem near the edge of the Tantos system; full reports of the outcome are still classified, but it seems that several pirate ships were destroyed, at least."

"Good," said Varas, nodding approvingly. "The sooner we're rid of that menace, the better – though I imagine the Duke stayed safe on Tantos III and let the regent do most of the actual work." The Baron respected his liege lord in most aspects, but, well… he knew Hiram's limits. And luckily for their duchy, Hiram knew his own limits as well and didn't try to force his way into situations he knew he wouldn't be capable of handling well.

Well, however it had all gone down, it was outside of his responsibility and his control. "Anything else requiring my attention at the moment, Danash?" Varas asked.

"Nothing that can't wait until morning," the other man replied. He regarded the Baron for a long moment, then spoke again. "You should probably grab some food; I can have it sent up for you if you like. No matter how worried you are about pirates or assassins – or your daughters – you need to eat."

Varas closed his eyes. "Thank you Danash," he said. "I'll join you down in the dining room shortly. I'd like a moment to collect myself, if you don't mind."

"Of course," Danash said, nodding, and withdrew. The Baron was left alone at his desk, his thoughts drifting again to Arta, to the secrets that he and the Professor had yet to reveal to her – things even Danash didn't know the full truth of.

Sometimes, being a father weighed more heavily on his shoulders than being a baron did; tonight was one of those times.

/

Arta sat in the booth of a cheap restaurant in Tannen City, staring down at the half-eaten sandwich on her plate as she tried to make up her mind about what she thought of it. On the one hand, it was perhaps the least refined thing she had ever eaten in her entire life – the sauce was messy, and she didn't even want to know how much of the meat was artificial – but at the same time, there was something oddly straightforward about both the taste and the presentation that she found almost… charming.

Shrugging, she finally picked up the sandwich and took another bite, her gaze finding its way across the table to where Karani was seated, wearing a gaudy and jaunty hat she'd happily purchased from a shop they'd passed earlier. Arta smiled at the thought of what Danash would say when he saw that particular purchase – she had no doubt that her father's efficient and proper aide would consider it an absolute crime against good taste but would be far too well-mannered to actually say anything, and would mostly be reduced to disbelieving silence. Karani, for her part, loved the hat, the restaurant, and the city, as she'd made loudly plain several times in the evening so far. Arta had found herself wincing slightly at every such proclamation – she might have traded in her fine clothing for an old, faded cloak and a hat that could only be described as 'loud', but her foster-sister was nonetheless making it obvious that she'd never eaten at a diner or done her own shopping in her life.

Arta hadn't done either of those things either, of course, but she hoped she was being at least a little less blatant about it.

Shiran, of course, seemed as entirely at ease in this setting as he had been at the Baron's palace, and Arta found herself wondering once again about his origins and what path had led him to his role as her tutor. He was relaxed in his seat, looking neither as awkward as Arta felt or as exaggeratedly interested in everything as Karani; he simply looked like he belonged. He'd finished his own sandwich already and was casually sipping his drink as he watched his younger student regard him.

"So, Arta," he said. "Are you enjoying your experience so far this evening?"

"It's been… interesting," she said, then took a final bite of her sandwich and swallowed.

"A nicely noncommittal answer," the Professor said, smiling. "But in any case, we're not done yet this evening, nor have we seen some of the things I brought you here for tonight." He stood, taking his drink cup, and gestured for the sisters to follow him. They left the restaurant and stepped out into Tannen City's streets.

The sun had completely set, and though not full the moons were out, casting the city into an eerie light that was largely overshadowed by streetlights, flashing signs, and the lights of passing automobiles in the streets and flitters in the skylanes. The district of the city that Shiran had brought them to was, he said, neither particularly poor nor particularly rich – it was mostly a commercial district that brought people from all walks of life, and even some from off-world.

The three of them kept to the sidewalk as they made their way through the city, the sisters following close behind Shiran as he led them – though where he was leading them to, he hadn't said. Karani was gawking around them excitedly as they walked, seemingly wanting to stop in every store, even the ones that sold products she didn't care about. Arta, for her part, felt overwhelmed by the lights and the sounds and the press of the people around them. Maybe, she thought, being an Adept made her more sensitive to that sort of thing, though the Professor didn't seem to be having any problems. Or maybe, she thought ruefully, she was just sheltered.

Still, as they walked she started to pay more attention to the crowds and saw that there was a hurried mood to much of their activities; maybe it was normal, but every so often she saw clumps of people talking animatedly with each other, looking less than pleased. Straining her ears, she managed to catch snippets of conversation.

"…price of technology is skyrocketing," one man was saying. "Shipping out of Tantos III has slowed to a crawl…"

"The guilds are the ones getting attacked by the pirates," his companion replied, "and they're making us pay for it. Lord, if the aristocracy doesn't deign to take notice soon and do something about it…"

Arta frowned. "They don't sound happy," she said. "What's going on with the guilds and the pirates?"

"You have good ears, Arta," Shiran said. "Pirate gangs – or perhaps only one, particularly large and well-organized gang – have been targeting shipments across the Kingdom, and Tantos III, with all its industry, has been a particularly favorite target. The guilds have begun to fear losing their products, and so the trade between planets has been interrupted. People are angry when their goods are overpriced, unavailable, or both. And they're right to be."

"Why doesn't somebody do something about it?" Karani demanded angrily. "We have armies and fleets and knights and… all sorts of things the pirates don't! We can take them!"

Shiran chuckled sadly. "Unfortunately, not everyone is as decisive as you are, Karani," he said. "And sometimes the dukes have other things on their mind than helping each other – or their people. There are people who, I have no doubt, are 'doing something', but it may take time before that actually impacts peoples' lives. And Katanes, at least, produces enough foodstuffs that very few here are likely to go hungry no matter how bad things get. Elsewhere in the Dozen Stars, people may not be so lucky."

"This is part of what you wanted us to see, isn't it?" Arta asked as they rounded a corner and approached an open park.

"Yes," Shiran said. "One of the great disadvantages of an aristocratic system is that it makes the ruling class feel that they aren't beholden to those they lead and can do whatever they want. This isn't true. Every ruler leads by the consent of those who follow them, whether they acknowledge it or not – the best by working to earn that consent, and the worst coerce it by force and fear. For the moment, most people in this city are merely irritated, not truly angry – and that irritation is directed primarily at the guilds rather than their rulers. Your father is a good man who works to do right by his people, and he is generally popular. But if the people overwhelmingly grew angry with him, well…" he gestured around them as if to encompass the vastness of the city. "Never underestimate the power of the people enraged and focused to change the galaxy. Do you think Artax the Founder won independence from the Empire merely by his own devices? No. He did it because the people of the Dozen Stars – enough of them, at least – believed in his cause and chose to follow him. The best leaders do not seek to dominate their people or see themselves as above them. Instead, they see themselves as the servants of the people, working to better the world for all of them. Do you understand?"

"I think so," Arta said slowly. "But from the way you talk about the dukes, you don't think a lot of them actually do that, do you?"

"Far be it from a humble teacher to speak ill of the council of dukes," Shiran said, "but it does seem increasingly clear that they have… allowed themselves to lose sight of the larger picture of what their duties entail. I don't mean to romanticize the past – if there's one constant of human nature across worlds and time, it's that the powerful all too often lose sight of the fact that power is for something, not merely an end itself – but that problem seems… especially prevalent of late."

"What do you mean, power is for something?" Karani asked. "Do you just mean that the dukes have a job they're not doing right? I knew that already."

"There are some," Shiran said carefully. "Who believe that merely possessing power gives you moral authority. If you have the strength to make something happen, that also makes it right to happen. While many people act as if this is true, it's not what I believe. I believe that power should exist to serve justice, not to create a sort of justice that benefits the powerful. Rather than granting privilege, it should bestow responsibility. To pretend otherwise is to abuse your power, and the trust of those who granted it to you – and that is the path to tyranny."

The Professor's face seemed troubled at this and he fell into silence, as though reflecting on some long-buried pain. Arta yearned to ask him what he was remembering, but something held her back – she knew that such a question wouldn't be welcome. Finally, Shiran sighed and turned away from the park, back towards the city lights.

"Let's keep walking," he said. "We only have a few hours here, and there's more that I want to show you before we're through."