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The spy's blithe acceptance only itched on his nerves more - what was he thinking, exactly? Hayne sank back, away from the dull light of the candles. But soon the worry faded, blot out by wide-eyed fascination. "A maid?" he said, eventually, reaching to take the letter. For a moment he read...

When he was a child, these tunnels had seemed like the biggest mystery - a grand secret for his brothers and father. Now he barely noticed them, chewing the inside of his cheek as he walked. By the time he reached the office his back was painfully straight, one hand hooked in his coat pocket...

Death was closing on his father. Hayne could see in the listless flutter of his eyelids, the way he stared right through the prince by his bedside. His body disappearing under a mountain of furs. The way the thin fingers were cold in his. He squeezed, anyway, and King Athner’s pale eyes...

When Katya caved in, downed some of the golden liquid, Sigs only reaction was a slump back in her chair. The glare broke as she But her eyes slipped back to watch the second, third and fourth glasses, growing increasingly awed. How was the woman still conscious? Sig herself was swaying even on...

Sig moaned, shrugging in a wild clatter of golden chains. The drug could be a depressant, an optimism, whatever. Even faint flare of rage under the skin of her neck felt righteous - barbarians disrespecting her. But she was already losing her cares, and was now riveted by the human's...

Sig's head had tipped back momentarily against the couch as she slumped. She was glad the adviser was handling her negotiation, because she'd become very distracted by the intricate pattern on the ceiling. When she glanced back she snickered at the look on the president's face - even to her it...

Sig blazed with satisfaction, watching him flinch away. Good. Her palps flared once before folding neatly. But she was swaying now, and after a few seconds of confusion she slumped onto the couch again, growling at the awkward human shape of the thing, the hard cushions. When the adviser tried...

For the first time since she'd left the ship Sig was comfortably warm, but maybe that was the burning drink she poured down her throat. As the president started to crumble she watched him over the crystal rim of the glass, eyes slowly narrowing. There was a faint sheen of sweat growing on the...

As she stepped back she found herself walking alongside the adviser again, bristling, her heart still pounding from the sight of blood. The nerve of this species - that he'd felt capable of looking right at her and trying to hit a guard. She had thought the humans like that had mostly been shot...

Sig had turned aside as the man was seized by her guards - beneath her to watch - but quickly found herself riveted again by the adviser's whisper. A dark glance slid sideways in confusion. Tainted? By normal applications of caste law? Yet the woman seemed very, very serious. "But Ekaterina-"...

Her scanning for the human's reaction went strangely rewarded - Ekaterina didn't seem to be judging her. Sig blinked gave a small tilt of her head in assent, as she folded her arms again. But they were already slicing down through the clouds, and in another half-second they'd touched down in a...

She had grown grim, mulling it over. Maybe they could do the slow boil - yes - but slow was the the operative word there. Why could her new subjects not simply obey? But the adviser's smile was convincing in itself, with how sharp it was. She found herself staring, coming to some kind of...

Radical ideas? Sig was struggling, staring back in concern as the other explained her various problems. This was rapidly becoming difficult, when it should have been something obvious, even to these people. Did she really want to do this behind closed doors? They were so close - the soft blink...

Sig was staring openly now in confusion - she had expected the human to agree with her plan. Instead she was finding out that she was 'too honest' for human politics. But she was listening at least - so far Ekaterina's advice had been very interesting. Some of it she could accept - after all...

The saying impressed her, had her beaming as she clattered up the steps into the cabin. Inside a flush of heat closed around them again, and she relaxed instantly, sighing. "What a stoic attitude," she marvelled, fixing the human in a curious stare. "It's certainly untrue in most cases, but has...

If Sig hadn't been so dangerous, so very far above Ekaterina's new-minted caste, she might have thought that the reaction was sarcastic. The guards around the room thought so too, perking slightly, yellow eyes fixing on the adviser. But they needn't have worried. Sig made a muffled yelp of...

No caste? Sig's eyes had widened, somewhere between fascination and horror. She should have guessed, maybe, but this wasn't something that her brain wanted to deal with. Nor could she understand what Ekaterina meant by 'equal'. It sounded like they weren't equal, really, but merely had some kind...

The explanation had her leaning back slightly, head tilted in bafflement. "Ah." She hadn't known how to use the paint? Did that mean she didn't have any symbols to use? Sig clicked amusement, raising a hand to smother the laugh. The woman had been trapped in her room by lack of paint. But the...

The alien's argument grew more fascinating with each passing second, and by now Sig was leaning forward slightly, trying to follow the arcane workings of the human mind. The blunt honesty was nice - more than she'd expected from a 'subject' of the president. But it was the challenge that got her...

The aplomb with which the adviser brushed off the taunting was both impressive and slightly disappointing. Probably she wasn't suffering enough, yet. Sig found herself listening the the advice with growing interest, though, her hand pausing on the edge of the bowl of cherries. The idea of...