Malaran Read online

Malaran and Leela sat next to the campfire, pondering the flame for a moment. The survivors of her detachment, those that had been too far away to take part in the strike on the ground car, stood watch in a circle about them, giving Malaran her space. Just over a day had passed since the catastrophe, and the shock had not yet worn off.

  She didn't know if the shame and guilt would ever wear off. She led her men so quickly to their deaths, and her failure to warn Father's citadel might have cost her so much more.

  But now something else demanded attention, denying her time to grieve and to think.

  Malaran looked down at the datapad in her lap. Several hours earlier, the starship had begun broadcasting on all open bands. The video had relayed a message from a man with a hard face and eager blue eyes; the same man revealed earlier by Far-Sight. He had appeared draped in a ceremonial robe of dark blue and silver trim, the colors of the Emperor of Man.

  Malaran advanced the video past the beginning, past his posturing and politicking. The talk of the reemergence of the Umpala. The talk of the sighting of other ships of unknown origin. And the talk of the rebirth of the Empire, with him as Emperor of Man, he who called himself Heracles Xander, a long lost cousin of House Xander.

  Once was enough. To speak of glory and majesty of a new empire so shortly after nuking thousands of humans, that galled her enough the first time she had watched. To claim that he had come here to Nuevo to begin rebuilding the High Council, to bring Father on as chief advisor as Lord Dakshu Ashoka had served Emperor Theramenes Xander five hundred years ago, that she could not bear to watch again.

  The message near the end of the video, however, she could not ignore so easily. Malaran took a deep breath and then activated the vid. Leela leaned closer and supported Malaran's shoulder with her own.

  "There is one, however, among the Ashoka that I believe can restore this Great House to its former glory. A Priestess of the Void, one who rejected the pettiness of court politics and chose a much nobler path. One who I believe would make a wise and shrewd counselor. One who I am willing to commit to, to restore the ancient alliance between House Ashoka and House Xander to rebuild the Empire of Man.” He paused dramatically. "One who I will marry if she will but have me."

  Malaran had replayed this three times, and she still couldn't quite believe it.

  The self-proclaimed emperor, the one who had just nuked thousands of humans, actually smiled.

  "Princess Malaran Athena Marissa Alicia Ashoka, I ask for your hand in marriage. I propose that you join me as my Empress. Together we shall travel the stars and reinvigorate the Empire of Man, standing against the Umpala and the unknown, bringing glory and majesty once again to human civilization."

  The children of kings always had arranged marriages, usually for political purposes, so she had always known that she would likely have little say in who she married. She would have had a little more say among the Calistites, but the Order would always have had the final say on whether she could be married and to whom. She never had high expectations. But to travel the stars. To rebuild the Empire of Man. To rise again so that humanity could withstand the Umpala. She would have married this man not only dutifully but happily.

  But now, to wed not only a madman but a monster. A monster who murdered Father and Mother. A monster that would use nukes against other humans. A monster that smiled while speaking of marrying the daughter of the man he just nuked.

  Yet a monster who would keep nuking Nuevo, keep nuking her family until she relented.

  Malaran slumped further against Leela's shoulder and sighed. How could she allow another holocaust? She would have to marry the monster.