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  Suddenly the prospect of encountering Ellandra’s heir wasn’t hypothetical anymore. But rather than comforting, it was a rather scary possibility. We stood to meet a queen of enormous political and personal power, saddled with the obligation to take care of a group of alien beings she knew next to nothing about. I briefly considered going back to Christine and her merry band of travellers and proposing they look for an alternative destination. One at the other end of the Haillar Dominion, if possible. But that would be silly. We stood to gain nothing by visiting Haillar worlds randomly.

  “How could we get to the Mirror World?”

  “The easiest and fastest way would be by portal. Alternatively, you can ask for a few berths on one of the carriers returning from Aldeea. They would grant your request, even if none of them is Sen’Dorien. They are based at Tao Bellona, so it’s not an inconvenience for them.”

  “These are military spaceships! Would they even take us on board?”

  “Of course. You are Ashar Sen’Dorien’s wards. To do anything else would be an offence to the Chaos Queen.”

  “How can they trust us? We are not even Haillar.”

  “You are the Chaos Queen’s wards. There is nothing to trust. She guarantees for you, so she’s personally responsible for sorting out any transgression.”

  The weight of our relationship with the unknown queen came on me like a ton of bricks.

  ✽✽✽

  I returned to the impromptu human enclave with mixed feelings and more questions than I had in the morning. Were we doing the right thing?

  We were safe for now and likely forgotten in all the confusion surrounding the end of the siege. I’d seen the Citadel streets busy with families returning to Aldeea and soldiers going back to whatever garrison worlds they came from. Portal traffic must be a nightmare. And yet, for no other reason than human curiosity, we were planning to go to the very centre of the Dominion and likely end up introducing ourselves to one of its rulers. A newly minted queen, who would have no reason to sympathise with us, but every reason to perceive us as an annoyance inherited from her predecessor.

  Thomas Holt stated we had no mandate to set ourselves up into an embassy representing Earth. Yet, in the context of Ellandra’s letter, that was precisely what we would be doing. While not a formal embassy to the Haillar, announcing ourselves to one of their rulers would effectively be the same thing. Yes, we’ve already done it. We met Ellandra and we had no clue. But Ellandra was dead, so our presence was likely unknown to the Haillar government except for the Warden of Aldeea. And probably he had better things to do than to make an issue of their first contact with humanity.

  I entered the barracks and found Christine and Hank going through our meagre supplies.

  “How did it go?”, asked the geologist.

  “Well enough. The warden will meet with Captain Holt in three days. Ewan and Charles have an appointment with Remelda Sen’Diessa, to start working on the food issue. Apparently the Haillar can help us synthesise nutritious food. They had done it several times in the past, but they can’t guarantee the taste.”

  “Merde!” exclaimed Christine.

  “Precisely.”

  “What about our intended trip to the Haillar homeworld?”

  “Going to their capital is no issue, but what we do once there may be. We may even end up meeting their political rulers.”

  “We’ve no intention doing this. It would be a sightseeing trip, nothing more. Did the Haillar condition it by a political agenda?”

  “Not at all, but we are travelling under Ellandra’s invitation. And Ellandra was a political figure and apparently a major player.”

  “I think that became apparent during the siege, for sure you did not believe hers to be an empty title.”

  “I didn’t imagine her being one of the top twelve people in the Dominion either. I mean, what were the odds to meet someone like this, days after landing on Aldeea.”

  The last remark stopped Christine in her tracks. Hank was equally perplexed but couldn’t stop a cuss and a comment.

  “Shit! Not even death can stop the little queen. Even from beyond the grave, she can’t help herself to keep blindsiding us.”

  Christine recovered herself and continued relentlessly.

  “If she was one of their rulers, it’s one more evidence their civilisation is fundamentally decent. But how does this make our trip to Haillar Prime a political trip?”

  “Her successor is likely to be there and will probably want to meet us.”

  “Come on, Peter. That would be nice, but I’m sure she has better things to do. She won’t see us unless we try to approach her, and most likely not even then.”

  “Well, apparently Ellandra made her personally responsible for our good behaviour in front of the Haillar law. If I were held directly accountable for a group of unknown aliens, I would probably want to know who I’m dealing with. Or at least ask my guards to check the interlopers.”

  “I would actually like to meet Ellandra’s successor.”

  “She won’t be the same woman, Christine. Even if she would be as open-minded as Ellandra, she has no reason to like us.”

  “I hope she’ll be a reasonable person. If so, Ellandra’s letter, her subsequent actions ending with her death on Endeavour, should be a plus in our favour.”

  To my surprise, Captain Holt accepted this point of view. I was convinced that in the light of the latest news, the Navy will cancel our trip. But apparently, the Captain had a different view of the risk posed by meeting Ellandra’s successor. He simply couldn’t resist the temptation of spying on the Haillar military vessels. If anything, I noticed a trace of envy in his looks when he was briefing Commander Koslowsky of things to look for.

  ✽✽✽

  It took us an entire month to prepare for the departure.

  The Captain met with Warden Kleist, and we were granted permission to settle permanently in the military camp we initially landed. It was nearly empty and due to be dismantled after the last Sen Haillar troops had returned to their homeworlds. The Warden saved on decommissioning costs by gifting the site to us, to do as we please. It took us two weeks of backbreaking labour to transform the encampment into a little village suitable for our needs. Besides crew quarters, we reconfigured several spare barracks into a proper infirmary, a mess hall, an engineering workshop and an administrative centre. Yes, a couple of offices!

  The only assets we had were the two surviving shuttles, good to go for a few years if kept in good repair. Captain Holt managed to sell to the Haillar the idea that our small fleet can be handy to reach parts of Aldeea not accessible via Einstein Rosen bridges. Alon Kleist immediately seized the opportunity to speed up his portal deployment programme, so our shuttles started to ferry gate construction crews all around Aldeea.

  This was great for the human-alien relationships, but a significant strain on our resources. In between Charles and Ewan busy at the Academy, and the pilots and engineering crews now employed by Kepler 452 airlines, we were left with less than a dozen people available to construct Argos Town. Yes, Commander Borodin came with a name for our settlement, though it remained entirely unclear what our connection with the golden fleece might be.

  Eventually, three weeks into our ordeal, Charles announced proudly that the biology team has cracked the food problem and brought us the first samples. I must admit they weren’t as bad as I feared, definitely better than the Haillar tea. The Sergeants were quick to compare them with the MRE rations consumed and universally loved by all Earth’s military forces. The prospect of starvation out of the way did not mean Charles and Ewan were left unemployed. There was an endless list of useful biochemical compounds our colony would need, from essential toiletry to engineering lubricants.

  In the end, despite Charles protestations, Commander Koslowski received the task to make sure the biologist will be back to Aldeea in six weeks tops, no detours allowed. Warden Kleist’s Exchange confirmed this would be no issue, and our account with them was
more than enough to cover the cost of his return trip.

  One week later, we found ourselves in the Exchange square, ready to go.

  CHAPTER 5 (ELIZABETH)

  I love returning to Tao Bellona.

  The Mirror World is the place where I was born, millennia ago. A place where countless lakes always shimmer in a kaleidoscope of hues. Where the weather is always fair, not too cold, not too hot, just perfect for basking under the sun. A place of gentle zephyrs caressing teal meadows, seas of soft tekkara grass waving from one lakeshore to the next.

  I don’t remember much about my childhood, and what I remember is probably part memory, part make-believe. It’s been so long since I was a child. I remember a time of carefree glee. I remember running barefooted through our garden, through endless lawns kissed by the morning dew. My parents’ faces are hazy, their features half-forgotten, overwritten by layer after layer of successive memories. They had become surreal effigies, the combined looks of thousands of people, men and women, whom I have loved and lost over thousands of lifetimes.

  My rational mind admits these recollections can’t be entirely accurate. I was born in the early years of the Annihilation Wars, so even as a child, my life couldn’t have been as carefree as I remember. My father had been a Light adept and an officer in Bellona’s planetary defence, so the samun shadow should have always been with us. I managed somehow to forget all of this, to hide my childhood self into a fairy tale. An ideal world, utterly opposite to what my life had become.

  I descend a few steps and continue towards the wide plaza in the middle of the Central Exchange. This transit station is Dominion’s largest, hundreds of gates connecting the heart of our confederation with each and every affiliated world. It’s also the only station I know located outdoors, the Mirror World’s mild climate allowing such an extravagance.

  “Ashar dear, look at you! My friend Ellandra is all gone, and I welcome a complete stranger instead!”

  I’m tackled by a woman a little bit over half of my size. Chalissa Sen’Dorien, our Seneschal on Tao Bellona, is a short person even by Haillar standards. To my embarrassment, I now tower over her in my human body, the way the human guard, Sargent Morris, used to tower above us on Aldeea. Now I understand humans’ awkwardness around Aleen and me. A brisk movement and I feel I can crush Chalissa without even noticing.

  Our Seneschal’s distress is genuine. Before Aldeea, I lived for six cycles on Tao Bellona as a barely ascended young Avatar. Chalissa felt probably closer to Ellandra than to Ashar. For her, my Avatar’s loss was all too real and much too soon. I’ve only been Ellandra for twelve cycles. She was one of the shortest-lived Avatars in memory.

  Chalissa hugs me, her arms barely long enough to encircle my middle. I lower on one knee and come level with her tear-stained face.

  “Chalissa is me, Ashar. I’m still here. I’m still Ellandra, just in a different form.”

  My friend gives me a dubious look, then composes herself and smiles hesitantly.

  “You must admit Ellandra Ashar, your new form is much too different. Forgive me, you must go by a different name now.”

  “Elizabeth Ashar. I chose it to honour a human friend who died on Aldeea. It’s their custom.”

  “Did she look like … this?”

  “Not at all. She was a bit shorter, though not by much, not as short as one of us. She was redhaired, and her eyes were vibrant green, not blue. But she was an exuberant woman, you would have liked her.” Chalissa is probably the most effusive Haillar I know, not as much as Liz was, but well above the norm. I wonder how the two of them would have gotten along. Likely my Seneschal would have met a kindred spirit.

  We stand straight and continue towards our House’s intra-world portal, the one leading directly to the Sen’Dorien complex on Tao Bellona. Side by side, we must be quite a sight. A giant golden-haired alien, head and shoulders higher than anybody else, together with a short and slender woman the size of a Haillar teen. Both escorted by four ceremonial guards, the entourage Chalissa brought with her to honour the new Avatar.

  Unlike in the City of Crystals, we attract quite a few stares while crossing the Central Exchange plaza.

  ✽✽✽

  “Your quarters are ready, Ashar. Reith warned us about your height, so we replaced the bedroom and dining room furniture.”

  Well Elizabeth, now you require special arrangements! I’m grateful though, nowadays beds seem too small and I’m no longer able to fit my knees under the table. I forgot the minor inconveniences faced when reincarnating as a different species.

  “Thank you, Chalissa! I hope it wasn’t too much of a hassle.”

  “No, you are not so difficult to accommodate. All I had to do is to acquire furniture in vogue three hundred cycles ago. They preferred ample spaces at the time.”

  I remember the silly fashion. It originally came from Vollar, and I always thought it was somehow sponsored by the Queen of Light. It fitted with Asturien penchant for grandeur. Lucky us, antique furniture is still around, so tonight I might finally sleep in a comfortable bed.

  “Your Advisors are waiting in the Study, Ella … Elizabeth”.

  I can see Chalissa’s effort to accommodate the new me. The familiar and yet unfamiliar queen, her friend in a previous lifetime, hopefully her friend still. It’s hard for me to understand this hesitation. Our personalities do not change when we are reborn. I’m always the same, no matter the Avatar, no matter the species. However, Chalissa has never seen me as anything but Haillar, and she’s still not at ease with the change.

  I arrive at the study, to find Zorbin Sen’ Dorien, my main advisor on Tao Bellona, discussing with Reith. Nobody warned me that my sister has already arrived, so I thought she was still on Dorien, due the following ten-day.

  “Greetings Zorbin. My sister, a pleasure to see you! I wasn’t expecting you so soon.”

  “Greetings Ashar, now Queen of Chaos once again!” responds Reith. Zorbin nodes politely, without interrupting the Order Queen. “I was summoned to Tao Bellona earlier than expected, same as you.”

  This was news for me. The acting Council is the only power entitled to summon us to the capital. Likely their message passed by me when I was resting at Ka Loren and somebody didn’t feel the need to mention it. I was heading to Tao Bellona in any event, yet it would have been good to be forewarned. I don’t want to look out of touch, so I nod. Luckily, Zorbin intervenes.

  “Calling a Formal Conclave on such a short notice is highly unusual. I tried to find out more, but all lips are sealed.”

  Indeed, a Formal Conclave is an unusual occurrence, and I can’t remember one called with only five days’ notice. It is an official assembly involving all twelve queens together with their most trusted advisors, attended in person by all of us and recorded in full by the Lore archivists. We all expected a conclave following the last Scourge offensive, especially the loss of Nadellonia. I was even prepared to be introduced as queen once again during the meeting, but I never expected a formal affair. Most of us prefer rather casual discussions. The last public event happened some two thousand cycles ago when the kalan race joined the Dominion.

  My musings are cut short by Brion’s arrival, together with Pharor Sen’ Dorien, a powerful Chaos adept, and hence vassal of mine. He is my chief military advisor, while in theory, Brion serves Reith. I have a long history with the old Guard Commander though, so he is as much my man as he is my sister’s.

  “Glad to see you, my Queens,” said Brion, informally nodding towards Zorbin. “Elizabeth, every new day, you look more self-assured. More like the real you.”

  I’m glad to hear my awkwardness is on the mend. Brion is not the man to deliver empty flattery, so I can take his words at face value. I feel indeed different after Ka Loren, back in control. Entirely at ease with my body and mind.

  “Glad to see you Guard Commander,” I respond. “I trust by now I’m back being my old self, no matter how odd I may look. We were talking about the Conclave, wondering if there
is a reason for the official set up and tight schedule.”

  “From what I gather, it’s definitely Scourge related. We dined with Admiral Sen Aesir and several other Great Houses’ commanders last night. Kamdor Sen Vollar was there, fuming about Nadellonia and their household troops who perished with the planet. I’m afraid something is in the making. The Darkness Queen is still livid with fury and quite capable of influencing her Light sister despite their apparent differences.”

  Indeed, at a casual glance, the Queens of Light and Darkness are as dissimilar as night and day. Yet, like any other bonded pair, the two of them are on the same page more often than not. On top of this, considering their common pride in anything related to the House Sen’Vollar, Nadellonia’s destruction was as much of a blow for Asturien as it was for her sister queen. As the Lady of Light is leading the Council this cycle, the decision to summon a Formal Conclave had to relate to Nadellonia’s loss.

  “Do you fear we’ll be rushed into reckless action?”

  “Difficult to say. I can easily see Sen’Vollar embarking in a dangerous plot. Both queens are overly proud and short-tempered. But I cannot see Faun Sen Diessa and Favriel of Frost approving of this.”

  The Queen of Spirit is notoriously risk-averse, while the Frost Lady can always be expected to see things rationally. There can be no Council majority for any farfetched scheme, no matter how much Asturien would favour it.

  We are back to square one, as the humans would say. I guess we’ll wait and see, and luckily the delay will be short. The Formal Conclave is called for tomorrow evening.

  ✽✽✽

  Later that night, I’m on the terrace, enjoying the light breeze.

  Our complex is located on Yallid, one of the largest islands on Tao Bellona. We can even say our complex and the island are one and the same. In time, our former summer residence expanded out and above, nearly doubling Yallid’s initial surface.