March Upcountry

“I’m not going to take dinner in the damned mess,” Roger said petulantly, pulling at a strand of hair. He knew he was being a spoiled brat, and, as always, it drove him crazy. Of course, the whole situation seemed expressly designed to drive him mad, he reflected bitterly, and gripped his hands together until the knuckles went white and his forearms quivered.

“I’m not going,” he repeated adamantly.

Eleanora knew from long experience that arguing with him was probably a lost cause, but sometimes, if you ground away at one of Roger’s sulks, he came out of it. Sometimes. Rarely.

“Roger,” she started calmly, “if you don’t take dinner the first night, it will be a slap in the face to Captain Krasnitsky and his officers. . . .”

“I’m not going!” he shouted, and then, almost visibly, gathered control of his anger. His whole body was shivering now, and the tiny cabin seemed too small to contain his rage and frustration. It was the captain’s cabin, the best one on the ship, but compared to the Palace, or even the regal ships of the Empress’ Fleet that Roger had traveled on previously, it was the size of a closet.

He took a deep, cleansing breath, and shrugged.

“Okay, I’m being an ass. But I’m still not going to dinner. Make an excuse,” he said with a sudden boyish grin. “You’re good at that.”

Eleanora shook her head in exasperation, but had to smile back. Sometimes Roger could also be disarmingly charming.

“Very well, Your Highness. I’ll see you tomorrow morning.”

She took the single step backward to open the hatch and stepped out of the cabin. And almost ran over Kostas Matsugae.

“Good evening, Ma’am,” the valet said, skipping aside despite an armful of clothing and accoutrements. He had to dodge again to avoid running into the Marine standing guard outside the door, but the Marine remained utterly expressionless and motionless. Any humor she might have felt at the frantic hopping about of the valet was quashed by iron discipline. The members of The Empress’ Own were renowned for their ability to remain stone- faced and still through virtually anything. They occasionally had contests to determine who had the most endurance and stoicism. The former sergeant major of Gold Battalion held the record for endurance: ninety-three hours at attention without eating, drinking, sleeping, or going to the bathroom. It was the last, he’d admitted, which had been the hardest. He’d finally passed out from a combination of dehydration and toxin buildup.

“Good evening, Matsugae,” Eleanora replied, and fought her own urge to smile. It was hard, for the fussy little valet was so bedecked with outfits that it was almost impossible to find him under the pile. “I’m sorry to say that our Prince won’t be taking dinner in the mess, so I doubt he really needs those,” she continued, gesturing with her chin at the mass of clothes.

“What? Why?” Matsugae squeaked from somewhere under the pile. “Oh, never mind. I have the casuals for after dinner, so I suppose that will do.” He gave his neck a little twist, and his balding head and round face rose like a toadstool from the pile of clothing. “It’s a terrible shame, though. I’d picked out a lovely sienna suit.”

“Maybe you can calm him down with some clothes.” O’Casey’s smile took on a tinge of resignation. “I seem to have set him off, instead.”

“Well, I can understand his being upset,” the valet said with another sharp squeak. “Being sent off to the back of beyond on a pointless mission is bad enough, but to send a prince of the Blood Royal on a barge is simply the worst insult I can imagine!”

Eleanora pursed her lips and frowned at the valet.

“Don’t go making it any worse than it already is, Matsugae. Sooner or later, Roger has to begin taking up his responsibilities as a member of the Royal Family. And sometimes that means sacrifices.” Like maybe the sacrifice of enough time to get a staff to go with the “Chief,” she added silently. “He doesn’t need his sulks encouraged.”

“You care for him in your way, Ms. O’Casey, and I will care for him in mine,” the valet snapped. “Push a child around, despise him, revile him and cast out his father, and what do you expect to get?”

“Roger is no longer a child,” she retorted angrily. “We can’t coddle, bathe, and dress him like he is one.”

“No,” the valet replied. “But we can give him enough space to breathe! We can make an image for him and hope he grows into it.”

“What, an image of a clotheshorse?” the chief of staff shot back. It was an old and worn argument that the valet seemed to be winning. “He’s grown into that one beautifully!”

The valet stared back at her like a fearless mouse confronting a cat.

“Unlike some people,” he sniffed with a glance at her painfully plain suit, “His Highness has an appreciation for the finer things in life. But there’s more to His Highness than a ‘clotheshorse.’ Until some of you begin to acknowledge that fact, however, you’ll get exactly what you expect.”

He glowered at her for an instant longer, then gave yet another sniff, hit the latch for the hatch with an elbow, and stepped into the cabin.

* * *

Roger leaned back on the bed in the tiny cabin, eyes shut and tried his best to radiate a dangerous calm. I’m twenty-two years old, he thought.I’m a Prince of the Empire. I will notcry just because Mommy is making me angry.

He heard the blast-door of the cabin open and shut, and knew immediately who it was; the cologne that Matsugae wore was almost overpowering in the small compartment.

“Good evening, Kostas,” he said calmly. Just having the valet present was soothing. Whatever anyone else thought, Kostas always took him at his face value. When that value was below par, Kostas would tell him, but when it had merit on its own level, Kostas would acknowledge it where no one else would.

“Good evening, Your Highness,” Kostas said, already laying out one of the light gi–like chambray outfits the prince preferred to lounge in. “Will you want your hair washed this evening?”

“No, thank you,” the prince responded with unconscious politeness. “I suppose you heard I’m not taking dinner in the mess?”

“Of course, Your Highness,” the valet responded as the prince rolled upright on the bed and looked sourly around the cabin. “Pity, really. I had a beautiful suit picked out: that light sienna one that complements your hair so well.”

The prince smiled thinly. “Nice try, Kosie, but no. I’m just too frazzled to be polite at dinner.” He slapped the sides of his head with both hands in frustration. “Leviathan I could take. Net-Hauling I could take, grumbly oil and all. But why, oh why, did Mother Her Regalness choose to send me on this goddamned tramp freighter?”

“It isn’t a tramp freighter, Your Highness, and you know it. We needed room for the bodyguards, and the alternative would have been to detach a Fleet carrier. Which would have been a bit much, don’t you think? I will admit, though, that it’s a bit . . . shabby.”

“Shabby!” The prince gave a bitter laugh. “It’s so worn I’m surprised it can hold atmosphere! It’s so old I bet the hull is welded! I’m surprised it’s not driven by internal combustion engines or steam power! John would’ve gotten a carrier. Alexandra would’ve gotten a carrier! But not Roger! Oh, no, not ‘Baby Roj!’ ”

The valet finished laying out the various outfits to be chosen from in the limited space of the cabin and stood back with a resigned expression.

“Will I be drawing a bath for Your Highness?” he asked pointedly, and Roger gritted his teeth at the tone.

“So I should stop whining and get a grip?”

The valet only smiled very slightly in return, and Roger shook his head.

“I’m too worked up, Kosie.” He looked around the three-meter-square space and shook his head again. “I wish there was someplace I could work out in peace on this tub.”