amends, you can finally tell me why you followed me around for a week before showing yourself.”
As always when I broached this subject, a look of apprehension crossed the courier’s face, and emotionally I felt a certain tension within him. I had been hounding him for an explanation since the moment we’d met, but up until now he had expertly managed to duck the question on each occasion. To be honest, I expected more of the same this time, but to my surprise – rather than excuse himself on some pretext – he gave me a very solemn stare. A moment later, the tenseness he was exuding faded, and in its place was a sense of quiet capitulation.
“As you wish, my Prince,” he said. “By now you know that I have served your house – your family – for much of my life, and they have my first loyalty. Their safety is my foremost concern.”
“So what – you were covertly tailing me to protect me from some threat?”
“That is a close, but inexact, approximation of the facts,” he said. “You occupy a unique position in the House Royal – one that is privileged in most respects, but also fraught with peril. For instance, there are a number of subversive factions that could make use of a royal – alive or dead – for propaganda purposes. Even among your own royal kin, there are many whose fortunes would be advanced should some accident befall you.”
“I get it,” I said, nodding. “‘Uneasy lies the head that wears a crown’ and all that. So were there assassins after me on Earth or something?”
“No, Prince.”
I shook my head in confusion. “Then I don’t get it. If there wasn’t a threat to me, why not simply reveal yourself right away?”
“My orders were to observe you first, to assess you mentally, physically, emotionally…in whatever manner or form that would allow me to make an adjudication of your ability to deal with the rigors of being highborn.”
“So you were trying to figure out if I’d be able to handle the pressure of being a prince, which is likely to include threats of physical harm.”
“Correct.”
“Well, what grade did I get, Professor?”
“I found you capable and competent.”
“And if I had been found wanting?”
“Then I would have reported back that I could not find you.”
My eyebrows went up in surprise; that was an unexpected bit of news. “So you would have just left Earth without me? In contradiction of the royal summons?”
“That was my mandate.”
“And who issued that mandate?” I asked, and almost immediately the answer came to me. “Wait – don’t tell me. I already know: my grandmother.”
Berran gave a slight nod of acknowledgment. “The safety of her family on Earth is of paramount importance to Princess N’d’go.” (As always, he used the Caelesian pronunciation of my grandmother’s name.) “And as a servant of your house, it is of singular concern to me – even to the extent of ignoring a royal edict. Fortunately, that was not necessary.”
I looked at Berran with new eyes. I could only imagine the amount of intestinal fortitude it took to defy a royal order, and I was about to comment to that effect when Sloe began speaking.
“Behold – the homeworld!” the robot boomed out in a stentorian tone.
I turned my attention back to the observation window, where a large blue-white globe had now come into view. From space, it appeared very similar to Earth (although a bit bigger) – probably because the two planets had very similar atmospheres.
“It is the heart of an empire that spans a thousand star systems,” Sloe continued. “The cradle of civilization.”
As my robot companion continued expounding on the virtues of my grandmother’s people, a circular area about an inch in diameter spiraled open near the center of his chest, revealing a lightly tinted lens. A moment later, the lens came to life, projecting a holographic image into the area before me.
This was Sloe in teaching mode. During our journey here, he had
As always when I broached this subject, a look of apprehension crossed the courier’s face, and emotionally I felt a certain tension within him. I had been hounding him for an explanation since the moment we’d met, but up until now he had expertly managed to duck the question on each occasion. To be honest, I expected more of the same this time, but to my surprise – rather than excuse himself on some pretext – he gave me a very solemn stare. A moment later, the tenseness he was exuding faded, and in its place was a sense of quiet capitulation.
“As you wish, my Prince,” he said. “By now you know that I have served your house – your family – for much of my life, and they have my first loyalty. Their safety is my foremost concern.”
“So what – you were covertly tailing me to protect me from some threat?”
“That is a close, but inexact, approximation of the facts,” he said. “You occupy a unique position in the House Royal – one that is privileged in most respects, but also fraught with peril. For instance, there are a number of subversive factions that could make use of a royal – alive or dead – for propaganda purposes. Even among your own royal kin, there are many whose fortunes would be advanced should some accident befall you.”
“I get it,” I said, nodding. “‘Uneasy lies the head that wears a crown’ and all that. So were there assassins after me on Earth or something?”
“No, Prince.”
I shook my head in confusion. “Then I don’t get it. If there wasn’t a threat to me, why not simply reveal yourself right away?”
“My orders were to observe you first, to assess you mentally, physically, emotionally…in whatever manner or form that would allow me to make an adjudication of your ability to deal with the rigors of being highborn.”
“So you were trying to figure out if I’d be able to handle the pressure of being a prince, which is likely to include threats of physical harm.”
“Correct.”
“Well, what grade did I get, Professor?”
“I found you capable and competent.”
“And if I had been found wanting?”
“Then I would have reported back that I could not find you.”
My eyebrows went up in surprise; that was an unexpected bit of news. “So you would have just left Earth without me? In contradiction of the royal summons?”
“That was my mandate.”
“And who issued that mandate?” I asked, and almost immediately the answer came to me. “Wait – don’t tell me. I already know: my grandmother.”
Berran gave a slight nod of acknowledgment. “The safety of her family on Earth is of paramount importance to Princess N’d’go.” (As always, he used the Caelesian pronunciation of my grandmother’s name.) “And as a servant of your house, it is of singular concern to me – even to the extent of ignoring a royal edict. Fortunately, that was not necessary.”
I looked at Berran with new eyes. I could only imagine the amount of intestinal fortitude it took to defy a royal order, and I was about to comment to that effect when Sloe began speaking.
“Behold – the homeworld!” the robot boomed out in a stentorian tone.
I turned my attention back to the observation window, where a large blue-white globe had now come into view. From space, it appeared very similar to Earth (although a bit bigger) – probably because the two planets had very similar atmospheres.
“It is the heart of an empire that spans a thousand star systems,” Sloe continued. “The cradle of civilization.”
As my robot companion continued expounding on the virtues of my grandmother’s people, a circular area about an inch in diameter spiraled open near the center of his chest, revealing a lightly tinted lens. A moment later, the lens came to life, projecting a holographic image into the area before me.
This was Sloe in teaching mode. During our journey here, he had
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