Governor's Tribute

Chapter Thirteen

  Boer was still a bit weak the next morning, but obviously recovering fast. Ven explained that the unit had "cleaned everything that wasn't a living cell" out of him, and though it had replaced essential salts and minerals, he was in about the same condition as he would have been if he'd had an influenza that "emptied your stomach from both directions for about three days." He told her he'd never had one that did that, but he'd had one that lasted a day and the estimate felt right.

  The young woman, who had just gotten out of their way when Dirda yelled they needed the flyer, asked permission to land it, on the mound of dirt that had been dumped in the depression where the ship had been, about two hours before the tea was scheduled to begin. Tam gave it. When she landed, she opened the bay doors and requested assistance. She'd brought a whole load of sod and flowering plants from the community where she lived. She worked for a nursery there and had been delivering blooming flowers in small pots for the tables of the cafe in the store the day before. She'd had the big flyer because the small one was in use to deliver cut flowers to a florist. Tam watched her working with a large number of very pleased gardeners through the terrace windows a few minutes, then turned to Boer. He'd decided they should watch.

  "I have... an odd feeling I know her."

  "Did you read the security report on her?"

  "No, just told Lavir to make sure she was invited. I really didn't have any doubts she'd pass the security check."

  "Do you know her name?"

  "No."

  "It's Denthi Mira Bosmore, though the family doesn't use Denthi on anything but birth records."

  "She's a Lady!"

  "From a branch of your great-grandfather's family who have meticulously, and successfully, avoided being stuck with any titles or positions for about two hundred years. Anverd brought me the report before we left the ship. She was eighteen and got her license to fly yesterday morning. He said a fault in the watering system in the store, which caused a yell for fresh plants fast from a nursery they didn't usually deal with, because the one they did was out of the right color flowers, a flyer right where we needed it, a young Lady from a discreet branch of the extended imperial family with a new license, and a few more coincidences, made him nervous, but he felt like giggling, not checking the charge on his weapons. Go get your knees dirty."

  Tam's security guards yelped when he dashed out the doors, but Boer stopped them from following.

  "Halt! Don't go out there, Captain."

  "Yes, Governor. May I ask why?"

  "It's damn difficult to get to know a woman with eight security guards watching to see she doesn't use a trowel as a weapon, or with three hundred people asking if her parents are important enough for the emperor to be talking to her. Give him some time to be himself with her. You know she's been thoroughly checked out or that flyer would not be out there. Comm Lady Relatross-Thiretess' quarters. Eddy, this is Boer. Is Dirda there?"

  "We're all here, Boer."

  "Dirda, Tam found his empress. He's getting his knees dirty and getting acquainted. We've got about a half-hour to find everything the applicable imperial statutes don't say before several hundred people start proposing more politically suitable candidates, now that he seems to be interested in having one. By then, he'll be sure she's the right one and so will she. Figure out some way to get them married before the tea."

  "Boer, that may not be possible. The form of imperial marriage is about set in stone."

  "Imperial marriage!"

  "Boer, Tori has an idea. She just shoved Lola in front of the comp. Jobe's on his way to you. He said you might need feet. Out."

  "Boer?!"

  "Here, Jobe! Look out the doors."

  "I knew it! It had to be her! She was out of the flyer and extending the dock... thing to the open flyer bay when Dirda yelled we needed it. I was sure she was doing it for us. She yelled the key code and started the dock thing back as soon as we got across it."

  "The thing is called a 'loading ramp.' Anverd said he felt like giggling when he showed me the security report on her and how she happened to be there just when we needed her this morning. He told me Ven made a wish for Tam last night and he had a feeling something had gone to work on granting it before she made it. I was sure he was right when she showed up early to help fix the mess the ship made before the tea. That flyer was stuffed. She had to be at work on getting it stuffed before she got the invitation."

  Jobe's feet were needed. Aura ran into the room, talked to Boer quiet and fast, then she ran one way and Jobe ran another. The answer was Boer could do it, but they had to get his authority on record fast and before 'anyone' found out about it. His double title of Imperial Prince and Relatross Sector Governor was enough to make it stick, if they worded it just right. He couldn't marry the emperor to someone, but he could marry "Imperial Prince Thiretess Tam Modentiss" to his Lady of choice and Tam still officially bore that title.

  His bride would be his princess, not his Empress Conjugal, which was the official title. That required a coronation. That was what Tori had seen. Imperial marriage was very carefully defined as such and all but the marriage itself, which was a relatively short part at the beginning of it, was exactly the same coronation that took place when the emperor or empress was already married when coronated, and it was always after that one. The time an emperor was married to a princess, or an empress to a prince, before it took place could not exceed a quarter-standard-year, but there was nothing that said that quarter-year limit began when the emperor or empress was coronated.

  Mira was very attracted to the older man who had come out of the palace to help lay sod and plant flowers. She knew he wasn't a gardener. His hands would have told her that if the narrow circlet around his head hadn't. She was sure she'd seen him before. He looked very familiar. Suddenly she realized who he was and nearly dropped the plant she was carrying. He stood, took it from her and set it on the ground.

  "I want to kiss you. If you allow it, you'll know I've never kissed a woman before. A cousin taught me how when I was about thirteen, but I've never practiced."

  "Neither have I, but you're a lot more overdue for it than I am."

  "Do you believe in fate? Or destiny?"

  "No, but I don't think they pay any attention to whether I believe in them or not."

  "Will you marry me?"

  "What?"

  "Will you marry me? I've been waiting for you a very long time. Should I get on my muddy knees to ask?"

  "Marriage is... quite a bit farther than I'd gotten. I was still working on you want to kiss me."

  "Do you feel you should say no? Not think, feel. We don't have much time, Mira. The moment I kiss you, several thousand people will begin constructing their arguments for the woman they think is the appropriate choice as my wife. I've avoided having to listen to them before this by just not being interested in the subject. I don't want the appropriate woman for my position. I want the right one to share my life. I'm very sure that's you. I'm also sure you can feel you are. Stop thinking about it. Feel how sure you are. Will you marry me?"

  "Yes."

  Boer saw Tam kiss Mira and yelled, "Now!" across the comm. People ran into the solarium from all over the palace. A great many others watched them run and tried to figure out what was going on. Imperial Guards were suddenly quite thick in the direction the people had run. They were smiling, but they definitely didn't look like they were going to move out of the way or answer questions. Tam and Mira were both still dizzy from the kiss when Boer yelled out the terrace doors.

  "Tam! Move fast!"

  He grabbed Mira's hand and they ran for the doors. The head gardener grabbed people and told them to get in front of them and pretend they were Imperial Guards. There were people coming around the side of the palace. She made a "close the drapes" motion with her arms as she ran toward them. Lavir slapped the polarizing control and Karr ordered the chandeliers on. Dirda grabbe
d Mira's hand and pulled her one way and Jobe grabbed Tam's and pulled him the other. Instant changing booths of blankets appeared around them and people went to work getting them changed fast.

  Dirda smiled as she dropped the dress her mother had chosen for her marriage over Mira's head. She'd found just the right occasion for it, after all. It took Eddy about a half-minute to apply very subtle shading to her eyes and lips and Tori finished brushing her long, light brown hair at the same time. Dirda's slippers didn't fit as well as the dress had, but Misty's did. The blankets on both sides of the room were dropped at almost the same instant. Larim escorted Mira and Via escorted Tam to the center of the room where Boer waited.

  Tam looked a bit surprised when Boer asked him, "Prince," if Mira was his "Lady of Choice as spouse," but he smiled and said, "Yes." Boer asked Mira if Tam was her "Lord of Choice." She took a deep breath, then said, "Yes." Lady and Lord of Choice were only used when weddings were between branches of the imperial family. He had been asked first as the one who was 'nearest' the throne, but she had been asked as equal, not if she accepted his choice. She was very pleased she was marrying the man, not the emperor. She was also quite sure the people around her had chosen the specific ceremony for precisely that reason. She was trying to remember how it went when the governor told them to make their pledges to each other.

  "Mira, I pledge my love to you. I pledge I will be faithful to the word and spirit of the marriage vows. You are my choice as spouse and companion for all my life."

  "Tam, I pledge my love to you. I pledge I will be faithful to the word and spirit of the marriage vows. I pledge I will always listen when you need to share your burden and seek to lighten it with understanding, even when you cannot speak of it. I pledge I will bear your children, love them as I do you and share the joy of them with you. You are my choice of spouse and companion for life."

  "By the authority of my rank and title of Imperial Prince by birth and the rank and title of Sector Governor bestowed by the emperor, I declare Imperial Prince Thiretess Tam Modentiss and Lady Denthi Mira Bosmore married under imperial statute. In keeping with that statute, I give the Lady her name and title, Imperial Princess Thiretess Mira Denthi-Bosmore, to be known as Imperial Princess Mira. In keeping with custom, seal your pledges with an embrace and kiss."

  Mira started to giggle during the kiss and Tam 'caught' them. Their witnesses and guests cheered.

  "Oh, Tam, it just occurred to me, I should tell my mother I'm not going to be home for dinner. I have a suspicion she won't believe me when I tell her it's because I got married, and I'm just sure she won't if I tell her to who."

  "Comm connect Bosmore residence, Glendon Valley. Identify origin of call."

  "Bosmore residence."

  "Hello, Mira said she should tell you she won't be home for dinner. I called to invite your family to join us for it at twenty and ask permission to call you 'Mother.' I just married your daughter."

  "What?!"

  "I asked her and she said yes. Computer, add two-second visual of room, then full-length view of speaker and companion. I'm sure you understand why the engagement was extremely short. I'm not inviting you to the tea this afternoon because I hope to become friends and I'm sure you would not find it enjoyable. I'll have the flyer returned and send one for your family at nineteen-thirty, if you accept. It's just going to be family at dinner, very casual. Of course, my cousin's family is larger than is usual. I love Mira. I knew she was the one I've been waiting for my whole life the moment I saw her. If she hadn't known it as well, we would not be married."

  "Well, she's certainly dressed for an imperial wedding. We'll be ready at nineteen-thirty, but I doubt my husband or her brother are going to believe me when I tell them where we're going. I don't think I'll tell them why until we're on the way. I'll let you call me Mother, Tam, but I'd prefer Mom."

  "We'll see you a bit before twenty, Mom. Out. Come on, Mira. We've got about two hours before we have to face a great many people who are going to be just as surprised and much less pleased than your mother."

  "Tam, be late. We'll deal with them for awhile first."

  "Thank you, Boer!"

  "Mira! We'll send another gown!"

  "Thank you!"

  "Boer, sit down."

  "Thank you, Jobe. I needed someone to say that."

  "You need a nap. Lay down on the couch."

  "Yes, Nora."

  "Jobe, you stay with him. We'll deal with the uproar for awhile."

  "We'll help, Dirda."

  "Thank you, Lavir. If you know of anyone else coming who will, tell Eddy."

  "There are actually quite a few. We'll put together a list for her."

  "He's asleep already. It tired him out, but it made him very happy."

  The tea began as an argument with refreshments. Anverd and Ven had been invited and arrived shortly after it started. They were just in time to see a group 'move in' on Boer and begin to loudly tell him just what they thought of his "outrageous overstepping" and "dilatory influence" on the emperor. Anverd winced when Aura, Jobe and Lola headed for them from one direction and Barri, Nora and Tori from the other, but he grinned. Ven was 'steaming' their way too and she was going to get there first, and with this bunch, she wielded more weight as premier surgeon in the empire than they did as Boer's family.

  "That's enough! Your 'careful consideration and appropriate choice' shit has assured your emperor stayed celibate since puberty! If Boer hadn't flat ignored you and your stupid and petty ancestor counting, he'd have stayed lonely as well! He knew if he even talked to a woman you'd all begin nattering about who he should marry because of this, that or the other political reason and he'd hear it day after day for years! They married for the only right reason there is and Boer wouldn't have married them for any other! I have absolutely had it! If you don't shut your fat mouths and leave him alone, I'll have you pitched out of the palace because you're badgering my patient with the intent of exhausting him physically and emotionally!"

  "Yea, Doctor. My turn. If you give Tam or the wonderful young woman who's going to make him happy any trouble, I shall tell people exactly what I think of each of you. You're prime examples of one of the major difficulties of maintaining the ideal of a working aristocracy. You have no personal value to yourselves other than noble birth and, therefore, make judgment of the value of all others on that basis. Frankly, no one in the empire gives a damn who your ancestors were. If you haven't done something to prove you're as good at the job as they were, they don't remember your names now and certainly won't after you're dead."

  "Just who do you think you are?"

  Boer burst into laughter and a large number of others felt for chairs. One of the group grabbed the woman's elbow and steered her away fast. She'd just made anything they had to say laughable and ended any real argument. When Tam and Mira walked onto the terrace about a half-hour later, people applauded, then cheered when both blushed. Tam thanked them and they headed for Boer.

  "What happened?"

  "Ven and Tori and Lady Ganfory's absolute assurance if she wasn't in attendance it wasn't important. She asked Tori just who she thought she was and I wasn't the only one who cracked up by several dozen. I wish my mother had been here to see it."

  "Your mother may not be pleased with me for sending you away before she and your father get back from Costain. They haven't seen you in awhile."

  "I know, but I was on Boniface for several years and the only time I really saw them was here. Make sure they meet Eddy for me."

  "I think making sure will consist of yelling a warning to her your father is out-distancing his escort to her quarters and your mother only looks like she's not moving as fast. It's absolutely painful to you to leave her here."

  "I knew it would be, Tam, but I feel better about it than I did. She's going to have six very good friends here, not just you."

  "There's no way we can keep her from missing the rest of
you, Boer, but she will be busy."

  "You look tired."

  "I am, Mira. Admitting that keeps me from having to admit I'm just plain weak. Here comes Jobe with more food to stuff me. I think he checks with Ven to see what should be on every plate, Aura checks it after he fills it and adds a bit, then Nora adds some. I think they all watch to see I eat all of it. My only complaint is this is the third plate of good food and the toilet still seems like a long way away."

  "Hello, Mira. We didn't actually meet. I'm Jobe."

  "You're adorable. I've heard that said many times the past three days and several before that. You're also very strong. You were moving fast with a big load yesterday."

  "And you're very much some of the reason I'm here to be a load again. Jobe, I'm sure I can make the toilet on my own, but I just plain want to lean on you a bit."

  "I thought those three glasses of punch you had were going to start you thinking about how far it was."

  "Jobe, he doesn't have to come back. How much is he not enjoying it?"

  "I think he said hello to everyone he really wanted to, Tam."

  "I'm not so weak I can't sit in a chair."

  "I'm sure you're not, Boer, but you think of this as work, not fun, and you definitely did a full day's worth already. Tam, keep them company. Take his plate along. Find him a comfortable quiet spot, close to a toilet, where a few people you're sure he'd enjoy talking to can find him. I'll make a dash for the girls, Boer. I'll be fine until he gets back. I'd really prefer you build a bit of strength today and not be exhausted when I introduce you to my family at dinner this evening."

  "Tam, I just ran out of argument."

  "That's my princess. What are you doing?"

  "Signaling Eddy I'm about to run for her. See you in a bit, my prince."

  Tam headed in with Boer's plate and Mira headed for Eddy. Boer watched his girls assemble as 'back-up' for the two of them and Ven, Anverd, Via, Larim, Misty and Ganthin move their direction before he got all the way out of the chair. He smiled, shook his head and leaned a bit on Jobe as they walked through the doors.

  "Jobe, I don't believe in destiny and I'm sure it's laughing with me about it."