The Dedicated Chp 2, part 2
Tasia and Jannelle talked over their theories and drifted among topics for almost two hours. After Tasia left, Jannelle sat in a padded window seat in the enormous library and gazed thoughtfully out the window at the garden beyond. The late afternoon sun made waves of heat rise from the delicate blooms that were arranged artfully in the garden, and their riotous colors seemed almost subdued from the humidity lingering in the air. Jannelle longed for a quick, cool rain shower to wash the sticky heat away, but as she scanned the horizon, she could detect no clouds. Just as well, because she knew the relief would be brief and the humidity would be worse after. With a sigh, she turned away from the window, only to let out a startled gasp to see Jared standing in the doorway, an odd expression on his face as he watched her.
She rose quickly, smoothing her gown as she stood, and spoke in halting words. He always made her nervous. “Were you looking for me? Ambassador Ye’ana and I only just finished talking. She has gone to her quarters.”
“Why do you do that?” he asked, ignoring her question.
“What do you mean?” Jannelled asked him, perplexed.
“You sit in here for hours, and sometimes all you do is stare out the window. I suppose simple minds don’t need much to entertain them. You probably watch heat waves rise in the distance.”
Jannelles’ face grew hot, and she knew her face was red; Jared’s words were too close to the truth. At her reaction, Jared rised one dark eyebrow and said, “Is that really what you do? Well, I don’t suppose I should be very surprised. But never mind, I want you to come with me. Something important has come up, and I need you to take over treaty revisions with the ambassadors. Although I know you are silly and flighty, I also know you can handle this.”
Jannelle’s eyes were stinging with unshed tears from his earlier words, so cruel to her yet so casually spoken that he didn’t even think about them. She almost felt pride at his trust in her negotiating abilities, but then he looked at her with his hard eyes glinting, and told her matter-of-factly, “I’m sure you realize how angry I will be if things don’t go smoothly.””
It was a warning, and she knew it. She drew herself up to her full regal height, which came just to Jared’s chin, and said in a strong voice, “You know you can trust me to do right by you and our empire, my lord.”
He nodded once at her, knowing she caught the hidden meaning behind his words. He would brook no mistakes on her part. He motioned for her to proceed him out of the library, and followed after her. As they walked down the great hallway and into a side corridor that led to Jared’s offices, he outlined his plans to her.
“I want the treaty to stay as close as possible to the way it is now. There are a few minor points that you have more leeway with. I have highlighted and made notes in the margins of my paper copy. I want you to go by those. As close as it is to our last one, I don’t think there should be any problems. But we are bigger now, and growing still. I expect we will be doing a lot of exploration over the years to come; I have set an aggressive outline for that, and I depend on our allies to be with us. Space has opened up to us with the new technologies we have, and this empire will be at the forefront of the great expansion outward..”
You could hear the pride in his voice, and Jannelle felt the same way. If the two of them were divided on every other topic in the galaxy, their one point of agreement was the love of their empire. It had been joined, split apart by civil war, and joined again, and they both vowed to never let it be split again. Both of them had lost too much in the civil war; both had lost their fathers, Jannelle had lost a brother she’d never really known, and Jared had lost friends in the fighting. So they realized fully the price of peace, and they were willing to do anything to never have to pay that price again.
She nodded gravely at him, fully understanding the importance of what he wanted her to do, but inside she was thrilled at the opportunity. Jared himself oversaw her studies, and he made sure that extensive knowledge of their allies and neighboring governments was a great part. As his wife and supposed co-ruler, she was expected to be able to handle these types of situations when they arose, and with her sharp mind and exceptional memory, the task was not daunting to her, but instead a welcome challenge. So as they neared Jared’s offices, she spoke for the first time during their walk.
“What has come up to take you away from the negotiating table, my lord?”
“One of our hostile neighbors on the fringe of our borders has been accused of attacking one of our fleet cruisers. Not a very well-armed one, I might add. They deny it, of course, and I must settle the matter. We have had an uneasy peace all these years; I don’t want to see our still-healing empire try to fight another war just now. That must be avoided at all costs. They too do not wish a war with us. Both sides are trying to find out what happened. I know the captain of the cruiser that was attacked; he’s not one to jump to conclusions or lose his head in a tense situation.”
They were in his office now, and he walked to the windows and pulled the curtains open. Sunlight streamed in and brightened the somber colors of the room.
“The Llac-no claim that is was a stolen patrol ship, but they keep such tight security on all their ships that I really don’t see how that could be possible. It’s an intricate matter, and we will have to be very careful how we go about it.”
He turned to see Jannelle smiling at him, and for some reason it made his temper flare. He hated being around her, because of all that she reminded him of, and that vacuous smile on her face at this moment made him want to slap her. With an effort, he forced his volcanic temper under control and snapped at her. “Will you get that empty headed look off your face? We have serious work to do. And don’t interrupt me with any of your inane chatter, just questions about something you don’t understand fully. I don’t want you making any mistakes because you didn’t express your concerns to me now. That would be foolish. Do I make myself clear?”
Jannelle nodded as she sat at his enormous desk. He came up to stand behind her, and Jannelle could feel herself getting nervous. Jared always had that effect on her, and she hated herself for letting it happen. She had finally gotten over the nervousness that every new bride feels, but now it was for a different reason: fear of her husband’s anger. He could get angry with lightning speed, and she definitely didn’t want him angry with her. So she ignored her body’s responses and set her mind to work.
Jared leaned over and took a thick, loose-bound manuscript from a drawer and placed it in front of Jannelle. “Look over it quickly so you can ask any preliminary questions, and then we can go into details,” he told her
As she began scanning the pages and his notations, he brought a chair over from the window and sat beside her. Jannelle stopped at one page and gave it a closer look. She looked at him and smiled. “You’re allowing for a first contact with the Catalona system? I’ve been reading the scout summaries lately. Do you think they’ll be ready?”
…rest of the chapter will post in a new entry…