The Ruby Dice (54 page)

He drew her into his arms, bending his head over hers. His tears ran down his face, from the joy of knowing his family and the sorrow of losing them.

Dehya came to see Kelric after he sent away his protocol officers, when he could no longer take their fiddling with his clothes and hair. He was in a chamber near the Amphitheater of Memories where the Assembly met. Dehya stood by the door, and he could see her in the mirror. He pulled at his sleeves, trying to straighten them. He had dressed simply, despite the protests of his protocol team, choosing his unadorned black uniform.

"We've had a communication from the Qox Palace," Dehya said.

Kelric turned to her, and the room suddenly seemed too quiet. "What did they say?"

"The emperor will make an announcement today. They will time it to coincide with ours."

"Did they say what he was announcing?" It was a desperate question and they both knew it, but he asked anyway, in the groundless hope that he could know before he went before three civilizations and put his name, life, and empire on the line.

"They told us as much as we told them," Dehya said. She looked as if she had bitten into a sour fruit.

"Nothing, in other words."

She came over to him, small and slight in her sky-blue jumpsuit. "Whatever happens, know that I stand at your side."

"I don't want you at my side," he growled. "I want you to
live.
"

Her voice gentled. "You hold so much within your heart, I think sometimes it may burst."

"Dehya, listen." He drew her to a table and sat across from her. "I can't go out there without warning you."

"I know you've secured this room." She sounded more as if she were warning him. "So did I. But nothing is certain."

"Even so." He had to do this. "Jaibriol Qox went to the SSRB to investigate the implosions." Kelric took a breath. "When I activated the singularity, he was sitting in the Lock."

Dehya stared at him for a full five seconds as her face paled. Then she said, "No."

"Do you remember what I told you about Soz and me?" Kelric asked. "What happened when we were children, during that storm?"

"I remember." Her voice had a deathly still quality.

"So does Jaibriol Qox, now. I showed him how to play Quis."

"Kelric—" Her hand clenched on the table.

"He needed something to give him control," Kelric said. He wanted to say more, to tell her that he believed Jaibriol's presence in the Triad had stabilized Kyle space and stopped the implosions. He didn't dare, even with mind-speech, given all the Jagernauts outside this chamber. He might have already revealed too much. But he didn't need to go on. He saw it in her eyes. She knew what Qox might do today.

"I'm sorry," he said.

"Don't be. I trust your instincts."

"I don't."

A chime came from the door. As Kelric and Dehya stood up, Dehya said, "I will see you in the amphitheater." Gently she said, "Be well, Kelric."

"You also."

Dehya left by a discreet exit that would put her in a hall with private access to the amphitheater. When he was alone, Kelric went to the main door. But he couldn't open it. Not yet. He stood with his palm against the portal, his head bowed as he centered himself. A drum felt as if it beat within him, steady, timeless. Perhaps it was his heart. Maybe it was a future his people had always faced and might now live. Or die for.

He touched a panel and the door shimmered. Eight Jagernauts waited outside. He saw it in their faces, what everyone wondered. Would Jaibriol give them a treaty today or destroy the military leader of his enemies?

Kelric set off down the hall, flanked by guards. His leg throbbed and his limp slowed him, but he kept going, headed for the Amphitheater of Memories.

Corbal came in after when Jaibriol was alone, after the emperor had sent away his protocol officers. They were waiting in a chamber near the Amphitheater of Providence, where the Aristos had assembled. Corbal stood by the door, and Jaibriol could see him in the mirror. Jaibriol pulled restlessly at his sleeves, trying to straighten them. He shimmered from his hair to his black diamond clothes to his polished shoes. Carnelians glittered in his cuffs and belt.

"We've had a communication from the Skolians," Corbal said.

Jaibriol turned, and the room suddenly seemed too quiet. "What did they say?"

"They have set up a Kyle node for us, since we can't create one ourselves." His eyes glinted. "Yet."

Jaibriol nodded formally. "Of course."

"With the connection, we will see it live when Imperator Skolia makes his announcement. And send yours live to them."

"Very well." Jaibriol went over to him. But he couldn't open the door. He wasn't ready. Not yet. A drum felt as if it beat within him, steady, timeless. Perhaps it was the beat of his heart. Or maybe his empire.

He touched a panel and the door shimmered. Barthol Iquar and Erix Muze waited outside, both in black dress uniforms with red piping on their sleeves. Four Razers waited with them.

And Tarquine.

Her red gaze was so intense, it looked as if it could burn through him. He thought he caught triumph from her, but she masked her emotions too well for him to be sure.

The minds of his joint commanders pressed on him, but he could endure it better today. When he had rolled out the Quis dice this morning, he had only intended to distract himself. But as soon as he drew on the memories Kelric had given him, his fascination with the game had swamped everything else.

The Imperator had been right.

Quis settled Jaibriol. With Kelric's memories to learn from, he could center the raging turmoil of his mind. It didn't take away the pain or give him control yet of that surging power, but it was a start. He had years to learn Quis. He didn't know yet what he would do with it, but it offered a lifeline in the ocean of his misery. It would help him rule Eube—

And beyond.

Jaibriol strode out of the room. Tarquine fell in at his right and Corbal to his left, with Barthol and Erix on either side of them. So they headed down the long corridor, the warlords of a conquering empire.

Kelric stood in the console cup at the end of a robot arm. Guards had accompanied him to the amphitheater and more waited on the dais, but he rode alone, and they hadn't insisted otherwise. He had seen it in their eyes, just as with Dehya. It wasn't condemnation; it was, incredibly, respect. He had tried to offer humanity the impossible. Peace. They knew he hadn't betrayed them. If this moment crashed, ISC would have to go through with the execution; to let him live would be to allow treason of unprecedented proportions with nothing to answer for it. But he would die knowing they understood why he had gone to Earth.

The Amphitheater of Memories hummed with the people of a thousand cultures. Giant screens showed him riding to the dais. He hadn't looked at the numbers, but he could tell from the crowds, even in aisles and between consoles, that more people had come today than to any other session he had ever attended. He felt the life, the vibrancy, the sheer
energy
of that gathering.

Don't let it end, he thought to Jaibriol, though he knew his nephew couldn't pick up that thought across the stars.

The robot arm docked at the dais, and Kelric stepped out, aware of the guards watching him. No one moved. Protocol was at her console, and Barcala Tikal stood by her chair. Dehya was standing by the console. She nodded to Kelric, and he nodded in return, though he felt as stiff as ice. He went to the podium, and screens throughout the hall showed him taller than life.

Kelric touched the speaker's panel. His voice went out to the amphitheater, and from there to Skolia, to his family, to Ixpar and his children, to the Allied Worlds, to Earth, to Jeremiah Coltman and Seth Rockworth and the people of a small Appalachian town. And to the Eubians. Three empires listened.

"Four days ago," Kelric began, "I met on Earth with Jaibriol Qox, the Emperor of the Eubian Concord."

The Razers swung open the great double doors, and Jaibriol walked with his retinue onto a balcony that overlooked the Amphitheater of Providence. Spread out before him, the hall hummed with Aristos, aides, officers, and guards, thousands in tier after tier. Giant screens showed images of Jaibriol, his hands braced on the waist-high balcony wall, Tarquine at his side, Corbal, Erix, and Barthol flanking them, Razers towering behind. He hadn't looked at the numbers, but it was obvious more people had come today than any other session he had ever attended.

He touched the speaker's panel on the wall and his words went out to three empires.

"My people of Eube." His voice resonated. "I come before you today to speak of triumph!"

"The treaty has also been signed," Kelric said, "by the Ruby Pharaoh and First Councilor, and ratified by the Assembly. All that remains is for the last three signers—the Highton Heir and joint commanders of ESComm—to add their names."

All across the amphitheater, people waited. Kelric looked at the private screen on the podium where a message would come only for him. It remained blank, and his heart thundered.

Jaibriol paused in the many honorifics expected from an emperor lauding his empire. He had said enough. He was tired of the overblown phrases. He glanced at Tarquine, and the intensity in her eyes terrified and exhilarated him.

"Four days ago," Jaibriol began, "I met on Earth with Kelricson Skolia, the Imperator of Skolia." He took a deep breath and lifted his chin.

Then he said, "Together, we signed a treaty for peace between Eube and Skolia."

A message flashed on Kelric's private screen. He read the words, and a roaring started in his ears. He didn't think he could speak, that his voice would shake.

Taking a breath, he raised his head. And somehow he addressed the Assembly. "I have just received word from the Eubians." Despite his intention to remain calm, his voice crackled with the emotions roaring him. "They have signed!"

His words rang out, and he heard his own incredulous hope. "We have a peace treaty!"

Jaibriol stood above the hall while it roared with voices and cymbals. Their shock and fury pounded his mind until he thought he would disintegrate. He stared at Tarquine, and she met his gaze. He could feel her mind now, as the onslaught wore down his defenses. It hadn't been triumph he had caught from her before, but an emotion even more powerful, grief and joy mixed together, her sorrow for the crushing path he had laid out for himself, but also, incredibly, her fierce exultation that he had dared the impossible and won.

His declaration of the treaty had gone to thousands of disbelieving Aristos, millions of news services, billions of settlements, trillions of people. The Aristos would revile him, hate him as they had hated no other emperor. But it was done. He had gone beyond and reached for something greater. For the first time in the history of Skolia and Eube, they had peace.

Jaibriol grasped Tarquine's hand so hard, he felt the bones in her fingers. She never flinched. They stood together, looking over the amphitheater, and he knew he could survive. With her at his side, he had done what he set out to achieve, and though the price might be greater than he could imagine bearing, he wouldn't let it defeat him.

His parents had not died in vain.

Boldface names refer to Ruby psions, also known as the "Rhon." All Rhon psions who are members of the Ruby Dynasty use
Skolia
as their last name (the Skolian Imperialate was named after their family). The
Selei
name indicates the direct line of the Ruby Pharaoh. Children of
Roca
and
Eldrinson
take Valdoria as a third name. The del prefix means "in honor of," and is capitalized if the person honored was a Triad member. Most names are based on world-building systems drawn from Mayan, North African, and Indian cultures.

= marriage

Lahaylia
Selei
(Ruby Pharaoh: deceased) =
Jarac
(Imperator: deceased)

Lahaylia
and
Jarac
founded the modern-day Ruby Dynasty.
Lahaylia
was created in the Rhon genetic project. Her lineage traced back to the ancient Ruby Dynasty that founded the Ruby Empire.
Lahaylia
and
Jarac
had two daughters,
Dyhianna Selei
and
Roca.

Dyhianna (Dehya) Selei
= (1) William Seth Rockworth III (separated)

Dyhianna (Dehya) Selei
= (2)
Eldrin Jarac Valdoria

Dehya
is the Ruby Pharaoh. She married William Seth Rockworth III as part of the Iceland Treaty between the Skolian Imperialate and Allied Worlds of Earth. They had no children and later separated. The dissolution of their marriage would negate the treaty, so neither the Allieds nor Imperialate recognize the divorce.
Spherical Harmonic
tells the story of what happened to
Dehya
after the Radiance War.

Dehya and
Eldrin
have two children,
Taquinil Selei
and
Althor Vyan Selei.

Althor Vyan Selei
=
'Akushtina (Tina) Santis Pulivok

The story of
Althor
and
Tina
appears in
Catch the Lightning.
Althor Vyan
Selei
was named after his uncle,
Althor Izam-Na Valdoria.
The short story "Avo de Paso" in the anthologies
Redshift,
edited by Al Sarrantino, and
Fantasy: The Year's Best, 2001,
edited by Robert Silverberg and Karen Haber, tells the story of how Tina and her cousin Manuel deal with Mayan spirits in the New Mexico desert.

Roca
= (1) Tokaba Ryestar (deceased)

Roca
= (2) Darr Hammerjackson (divorced)

Roca
= (3)
Eldrinson Althor Valdoria

Roca and Tokaba had one child,
Kurj
(Imperator and Jagernaut), who married Ami when he was a century old. Kurj and Ami had a son named Kurjson.