Jint also understood why Yestesh didn’t outright explain all this. There was a tendency for the Royal Princess to lose her temper whenever she felt sheltered by others. That wasn’t unique to Lafier — it was a trait shared by all in the Abliar clan. Therefore, Abhs with their heads screwed on tried to avoid pointing out danger to an Abliar, and, if the cat was out of the bag, to avoid suggesting they change their mind regarding said danger. And Yestesh had his head screwed on tight.
“I strongly suggest you stay at the Garich Dreur Bhorlacr (Vorlash Count’s Manor),” said Yestesh.
“At the manor, huh...” Jint didn’t hate the House of Vorlash, but he wasn’t exactly thrilled at the prospect, either. Back when he’d lived in Delktu, the landworld right underneath the Manor, they must have been aware that the heir to the House of Hyde was on-planet, and yet they never contacted him. Jint didn’t bemoan that; he just took it as a sign that perhaps the House of Vorlash harbored some prejudice against landworlder nobles.
As for why Jint never took the initiative and paid the Manor a courtesy call, one reason was that he’d been brought to Delktu when he was still a clueless and callow little boy, and by the time he realized it, he’d already long since let the opportunity slip by. One other reason — a reason he couldn’t deny — was that he was afraid he might get treated coldly, which would land a blow to his self-esteem.
There were other reasons to avoid staying at the Manor even outside of that purely emotionally-based hesitation. Part of why he was going to begin with was to recruit vassals. Being stuck high up in orbit would hardly serve that end.
Jint gave it some thought, and came up with a safe course of action. I’ll stay at the Manor for the time being, and then I’ll head for the spaceport and/or the surface by my lonesome. It wasn’t as though he’d need Lafier’s assistance to go headhunting, anyway.
The big problem was getting the Royal Princess to agree to that. There was no hope she’d take it lying down if she perceived it as coddling her. A fight would be sure to ensue. But if he weathered that storm, the skies were clear from there.
“I’ll try asking the Dreuc Bhorlacr (Count of Vorlash) to let me stay at the Manor.”
“I can do that for you, if you wish?” said Lafier.
“That’s okay,” he said. “This is my job.” Reluctant though he was to engage in inter-grandee negotiations, (and all the more so due to it being his first time), he’d feel like a worm making Lafier do it for him. This was a matter for the House of Hyde — that is, Jint himself — to attend to.
Of course, a royal princess of the Empire asking would carry more weight than a count from a neighboring system, but as Jint couldn’t hide that he was accompanied by a princess, it was very unlikely the House of Vorlash would turn them down, no matter who made the request.
“Have neither of you heard, Lonh-Dreur, Fïac Lartnér?” said Yestesh, eyes wide.
“Heard what?”
“Currently, Count Vorlash and his family are missing. At the onset of the Three Nations Alliance’s invasion, Aimemyrh Aronn Boscycer Dreuc Bhorlacr Mhisceucec-Lonh was together with his loved ones at the Mansion. And even now that we’ve recovered the Vorlash Countdom, their whereabouts remain unknown. They were likely taken somewhere within the Three Nations. Or, perhaps, they’re no longer alive.”
“Then how is Vorlash coping in general?”
“Her Majesty the Empress has filled the countship for the time being, with administrative affairs being handled by a magistrate.” The investigator then ran a search on his wristgear. “Her name is Aimemyrh Üémh Cerdér Dereuzz. Judging by her name, she’s of the gentry, connected to the Emyoor Clan.”
“Guess that won’t affect our stay there, then.”
“Correct, but I shall be the one to make the request. Magistrates standing in for Her Majesty are duty-bound to accede to the requests of us investigators to the best of their ability, so that will smooth out the process.”
“Okay, understood. Then I leave it to you. Thank you,” said Jint, relief washing over him.
The look and feel of Delktu were unchanged from before the Three Nations Alliance takeover — or at least, so it appeared from way up in the spaceport.
The rust-red planet lacked much in the way of moisture content. In fact, the only pools of water that could be seen from orbit consisted of a number of giant ravines formed by convection between the planet’s nucleus and crust, though the rather sharp-eyed could also make out the lakes and marshes dotting the surface.
That being said, telling residents of Delktu that their planet had no seas or oceans was inadvisable. They called their ravines filled with freshwater “seas,” with a sense of endearment and attachment that outsiders had trouble comprehending.
Where one of those “seas” — the Sea of Fai — intersected the equator, lay the largest city and capital, Mei, and that was where the orbital tower stood in geosynchronous orbit. Delktu had a short rotation time (causing dust storms that were notable even on the galactic scale to be visible from orbit as well), so the geosynchronous orbit was relatively close to the ground. The spaceport, situated at the tower’s center, floated a mere 20.6 saidagh off the surface.
Meanwhile, 7.1 saidagh above geosynchronous orbit flew the Vorlash Count’s Manor. The orbital tower extended higher up than the spaceport at its core. The laws of physics discovered eons past demanded a balance be struck, and so there was a long stem on the opposite side of the planet’s surface as well, with a small asteroid fastened to serve as a weight. As such, the Manor had to change course from time to time to avoid getting split into two by the carbon crystal fiber.
Vorlash had been a comparatively recent addition to
