“Thank you, chan Lofti.” Andrin scanned the table to see if anyone else had more questions for this member of the Imperial Guard. No one did.
“I think that will be all for now.” Councilor Dulan dismissed the man, and chan Lofti bowed himself out.
“And,” Dulan put in after a slight pause allowed the door to close firmly, “since the Conclave meeting is in only five days, the Council has formally recommended against your choosing Prince Yertahla, Your Highness.”
“What about Howan Fai?” Andrin asked.
Councilor Dulan said, “I’d welcome him into the Guard.” That was high praise indeed, but it wasn’t enough.
“And as Consort?” Andrin asked. “With all honor for the fine work the Imperial Guard does, I don’t need a protector. I need a Prince. Is he strong enough for this?”
“I believe he is, Your Highness,” Dulan replied. “He’s had some hard times in the past. Eniath’s struggle to remain independent from Uromathia hasn’t been easy on the Fai family, but I judge Howan Fai’s emerged from it all stronger rather than broken.”
“That’s good. That’s really good. But, can he handle being Consort? I’m-” Andrin blushed. “At least I think I’m trying to be rational about this. He’s really amazing, I mean, I like him. But I can’t make this choice just based on what I want. I have to choose a man who will be good for Sharona. The Gods know Janaki was expected to make a political marriage to help Ternathia, but now the stakes are so much higher. I can’t see, and I don’t mean Glimpses, though I’ve gotten niggles of warnings from that too, but I can’t see if this choice will ultimately work out.
“I can imagine Howan Fai as an emperor consort, but that shouldn’t be for years and years. Father will have plenty of time to train us both, I hope. It’s just that I’m coming to this late, too. Do you think he can learn? Sharona is so much bigger and more complicated than the single island of Eniath.”
Councilor Yamen coughed to gain her attention. The small birdlike woman specialized in accounts, finances, and banking concerns and provided the Privy Council with her insights on all things financial.
“While it’s true Eniath is small and has no physical holdings beyond the home universe, Your Highness, the people were originally nomads, with their range to the east of the Arau Mountains extending to the northern Uromathian coast. At one point Eniathian nomads ranged fairly far south as well. But in old history, several of Howan Fai’s many times great grandfathers kept his people free during the Uromath Unification Wars by giving up contested land. One branch of the Eniathians even moved entirely onto their boats when they had to abandon the Uromathian coastline. The Uromathian Empire formed without them, but they kept their independence, and if Eniath’s physical holdings now aren’t much larger than a postal stamp, their traders, merchants, and bankers are among the canniest anywhere. And, for that matter, as a people of travellers they’re quite literally everywhere. There are a few strongholds in the steppes and another couple on some northern islands, but the people of Eniath are still very nomadic at heart.”
“Oh yes, I remember learning about that.” Andrin replied.
Most of what her tutors had taught her about Uromathia had focused on the Uromathian Empire and its current conflicts with Ternathia, but there’d been a few asides about how the handful of Uromathian kingdoms currently separate from the Empire had come to be. Now she searched her memory for the details of the long eastern Uromathian coast, where the ocean’s shallows were filled with floating fisheries and boat cities built by the fishing families who fed the Uromathian Empire.
“I’m sorry, Shamir, but I think I’ve scrambled some of my history lessons. Does Eniath control the Uromathian fishing industry?”
“Absolutely not,” Councilor Yamen replied for the first councilor. “The Uromathian Empire has a strong coastal-based fishing industry independent from Eniath. Some Eniathians do run traditional fish farms and transport their catches widely, but most Eniathian industry is in trade and banking. They’ve been able to maintain their independence from the Empire for so long largely because of their keen observation and involvement in the Sharona-wide economy. For the last eighty years, that’s translated into an equally deep involvement in inter-multiverse affairs and commerce, as well. I think we’ll find the heir to the Eniathian Crown to be a quick study at inter-universal politics.”
“There is one rather significant concern,” Councilor Dulan said. “Eniath is prosperous, but not excessively so. For that matter, some of the larger cities of the Uromathian Empire proper could probably match the wealth of the entire kingdom, or come very close to it, at any rate. That means the Eniathian royal house simply can’t afford the sort of security Ternathia can. I assess Prince Howan Fai’s personal guard to be both loyal and exceptionally competent. If the Prince hadn’t spotted our investigators himself, I expect the guard would have recognized the tails even with the frequent personnel changes.
“But even the best single guard is weak security. The prince must sleep, and the guard must sleep. That means the prince is vulnerable, if Chava should even begin to suspect what we have in mind. For that matter, his father’s security is almost equally weak, and Chava wouldn’t hesitate to use threats to the king to sway the prince. At the moment, they’re staying in the guest wing with many of the other Conclave attendees, and we can’t move their quarters or secure their persons without drawing exactly the sort of attention we’re trying to avoid.”
“Our best choice is to keep it secret.” Yamen agreed.
“But what about Howan Fai?” Andrin asked. “He has to be consulted.”
“No, Your Highness,” said Dulan. “I’m sorry for the bluntness, but that is exactly wrong. He has to not be consulted. For his safety, for his family’s safety, and for the good of Sharona, Prince Howan Fai Goutin can’t know he’s been selected until he’s pledging his troth to you in front of the Conclave. He wouldn’t thank you for risking his family’s health and safety for any advance messages either.”
“If he had a Voice with him or even just a Flicker as an attendant,” Jastyr mused thoughtfully, before adding, “but he doesn’t. So there’s no secure way to send Howan Fai anything.”
“Princes don’t have it any easier than princesses, do they?” Andrin said sadly. Jastyr gave her a slight nod of acknowledgement, but Taje raised an eyebrow and Dulan looked at her inquiringly. “Howan Fai will marry me because he’s a prince and that’s what princes do,” she explained. “Even Chava’s sons would do the same if their Emperor ordered it.”
“Of course they would, Your Highness, but the marriage afterwards is what will make all the difference,” Taje said.
“I’d rather not need to have Imperial Guardsmen defend you from your own consort, Your Highness,” Dulan added. “So please don’t suggest choosing any of Chava’s boys.”
“So they really are as bad as I’ve heard?” she asked.
“Probably worse than you’ve heard, Highness.” Yalen said, “There are certain details unlikely to be repeated for a young lady’s ears. Certain things I wish hadn’t needed to be said to my ears either.”
“Likewise.” Taje and Dulan agreed.
“Your Highness!” Jastyr pushed her papers aside and glared at Andrin with an expression the crown princess was not used to seeing on councilor’s faces. The Privy Voice was angry and very clearly not engaged in any secondary Voicelinks at this particular moment. “Your Highness cannot be implying you feel sorry for the Crown Prince of Eniath who’s looking like he’s about to make the match of a lifetime!”
The rest of the council looked thunderstruck. They’d only been listening to what she’d said. Jastyr, mostly silent and listening hard in the moments between her other commitments, had been alert to all the things the crown princess wasn’t saying.