Act 2 - Bargaining[]
With A Bared Sword[]
Chapter 13[]
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The Triad, Tharkad
Donegal March, Federated Commonwealth
30 June 3055
There had been too much public grief to follow through with the original idea of a quick burial of Melissa Steiner-Davion. The compromise had been to use an incredibly valuable stasis tube as a temporary casket, preventing any decay of her remains. The flag of the Federated Commonwealth completely covered the medical apparatus and completely obscured the horrid sight of what remained of the beautiful and vivacious Archon.
Victor had forced himself to look at his mother’s remains once and regretted it ever since. Kathy had refused to and he had endorsed keeping their younger siblings from repeating his error in judgment.
As he watched from one of the mezzanine levels of the cathedral, a long long line of Lyrans shuffled slowly through the nave and past the casket. Some genuflected to his mother, others handed small tokens to priests who placed them on display tables on either side. In the future, they would be packed away and those that were not perishable used in a memorial to Melissa Steiner-Davion.
The door to the stairs opened and Victor turned angrily to see who was intruding. He had come here to be alone, told Galen not to let anyone through.
His fury faded as he saw Kathy’s face, pale between the black fur of her long, heavy coat and cap. “I thought you were with Yvonne.”
Victor’s sister moved up to stand next to him, looking down at the mourners. “I’m not who she needs right now. She’s in the library with Misha Auburn, talking history. It seems to distract her which… is probably for the best.”
“Yeah.” He rubbed his face. “Did you hear about Bolan?”
“God, is there trouble with the Free Worlds League?” Bolan was an important world, one that had one been part of a salient of League systems deep inside Lyran Commonwealth. It had fallen to House Steiner during the Succession Wars and reclaiming it had long been a dream of House Marik.
The assumption made sense, but for once it was not the worst. “Nothing so dire,” Victor told her. “Mother was a major patron to the Martial Academy of Bolan, and they have asked to rename the school in her honor. Arthur wants to transfer there and finish his military education in the Commonwealth.”
“Do they even have a mechwarrior program for him to join?”
“They keep getting delayed,” Victor admitted. “I’ve ordered the AFFC to do whatever is needed to get it back on track before the next year begins. It will be more like a training battalion than a full class… but my authority as Archon-Prince should be good for something.”
It still felt strange to refer to himself as such. That title had always been some distant future, some day when their parents had somehow conveyed their wisdom and leadership to the point he was ready. But now it was thrust upon him and he had never been so conscious of the burden they had left him.
“It might not be the best decision for him,” she warned, holding her coat tight around herself.
“Perhaps. But it is his decision. He’s not a child any more.”
“None of us are.” Kat shook her head, took off her cap and brushed her hair back into order with the fingers of her other hand. She’d grown it out further since he last saw her, past her shoulders. “We should talk about how to handle your coronation on New Avalon.”
“Now?” he asked, incredulously. He turned to face her. “Is this really the time?”
“You’re the Archon-Prince,” Kathy replied, weighting the second half of the title more heavily. “You need to respect both halves of the realm.”
Victor grimaced. “Let’s move this somewhere more private.”
His sister looked down at him for a moment and then nodded curtly.
The two walked together to the stairwell, Kathy shortening her pace to match his own. The door closed behind them and Galen looked up from where he was waiting. “I didn’t think your order applied to family.”
“It didn’t,” Victor assured his friend. “But it’s a little too public out there to talk frankly.”
“Frankly?” Galen asked. He looked between them. “Do you mean argue?”
The Archon-Prince felt the corners of his lips curl up. “I hope not.”
Kathy put her hat back on, then straightened it with both hands. “I know your coronation has to take place here first, but after that you’re expected on New Avalon as well.”
“I understand,” Victor assured her. “And I will come to New Avalon, when the time is right. There is too much going on here to do so right away though. There is a reason mother spent more time on Tharkad than she did in New Avalon. It certainly wasn’t the weather.”
His sister shoved her hands deep into her coat pockets. “Alright. For royal court then? In three months?”
“Probably not.” The investigation into their mother’s death had barely begun, he had to keep an eye on that. And another on the Clans. The Red Corsair had hit another world - he had handed over the pursuit to the Kell Hounds, but the bandit had slipped away again. He and Galen both agreed that had to mean a leak, and Phelan was being stubborn about the idea that it could be from the other side of the border.
“Mom never missed that.”
“I know it’s not ideal,” he said. “Next year, I hope.”
“There is a command circuit, you would be on New Avalon in days,” Kathy reminded him.
“Yes.” Victor leant forwards slightly. “But you know what a circus the High Council is. I’d be hundreds of light years further from where my focus has to be and adding my coronation would make it worse. I’d be doing well to have things in order by Christmas.”
“The longer you leave it, the harder it will be,” she snapped. “Putting this off isn’t -” She broke off and shook her head.
“Isn’t?” he asked sharply.
Kathy took a deep breath. “Sorry.”
“No,” Victor insisted. “Tell me what you were going to say.”
She looked away. “It’s not what mom or dad would have done.”
That hurt and he knew his face showed it.
“I’m sorry,” she repeated. “That was cruel.”
Kathy was hurting too, Victor reminded himself. Hammond Davion had passed on a warning that she had been watching the transmission when the bomb went off. She had had to watch it. “I miss them too,” he told her. “Forgive me if I am also… raw.”
Galen was on the step below them and reached out to take them both by the shoulder. “Family always has more power to hurt each other,” he reminded them. “If you don’t mind, Katherine, why do you feel it’s so urgent for Victor to be crowned twice.”
“The Federated Commonwealth is an alliance still,” his sister told them. “It’s not a nation, not yet. Everyone thought there would be more time to take the steps for that. Losing that time has left everyone unsettled. Think back to the early history of the Lyran Commonwealth, the uncertainties from the time of Nine Archons. It was more than thirty years before Robert Marsden finally forced solutions for the issues and restructured the Commonwealth. I don’t want you to have to be another Crusher.”
That got a scowl from Victor. “He did what needed to be done.”
“Yes, but would he have had to go that far if there had been a clear single leader, known and accepted by everyone, from the beginning?” Kathy reached out to Victor. “You’d hate being a man like that, and I’d hate what it would do to you.”
Victor sighed and took her hand. “I never, for a moment, considered that this was coming from any sort of disloyalty,” he assured her. “I need to be seen to be dealing with the challenges we face and right now, with the Clans on the border, with mother’s death… with Ryan Steiner and his scheming. I need to get things in order here. As soon as there is enough confidence here in my realm, I will go to New Avalon. I promise you.”
Kathy leant on him for a moment and then pulled back. “Thank you.”
“In the meantime, I am going to have to put more weight on your shoulders,” he said apologetically. “I know you haven’t finished your time with the Crucis March Militia, but the plan was always that you and Peter would act as my deputies for whichever capital I wasn’t on. I don’t think Peter’s ready yet.”
“And he’ll want to prove himself against the Clans.”
“That’s a fight for another day,” he sighed. “I wasn’t supposed to end up in a war zone on my first deployment. No one expected the Clans.” A shake of his head. “Never mind. But you’re right, we need people to be thinking more of House Steiner-Davion, not Steiner or Davion alone. Hammond Davion has done a good job but I need you to take over as the face of my government on New Avalon. He’ll stay on as Minister of the Crucis March and one of the key advisors but I want you to serve as viceroy.”
Kathy sighed heavily. “I suppose I can hardly claim to be unprepared with everything you’re dealing with.”
Victor nodded. It would also keep his gentle sister safe on New Avalon. If she felt her duty required it, she would seek out a post facing the Clans and it would be harder to argue that than it would be with Peter, given her age and experience. But he had also seen her scores at NAIS and Victor knew she was not someone he wanted to send up against the Jade Falcons or the Steel Vipers. Not everyone was made to be a mechwarrior - she had forced herself to qualify, to make father proud. The least he could do was to let her finish her five years somewhere safe and sound.