Rene marveled at his fiancee’s skills. Solae would certainly never have aspired to the rank she had been granted, but the Empress had made an excellent choice in elevating her to high office. It was possible that the choice had been made on the spur of the moment but Rene didn’t think so. The PEA call had been, had to be in fact, tagged with Solae’s genetic information when it was routed to the Empress and she wouldn’t have answered the call without reviewing what information was to hand on Capella, if nothing else she would have wanted to make sure it wasn’t some ploy by plotters to locate her in her hiding place. Still it had been a bold move, for the sake of the people of the Eastern Cross Rene was glad she had made the decision that she had, though he knew in her heart of hearts Solae might have been happier without such responsibility. Ironically it was people who wanted power most who were least to be trusted. Duke Tan essentially ruled an entire sector of human space and yet it hadn’t been enough, whereas Solae Falia wanted nothing more than a simple life and had been thrust into prominence by his actions.

They talked idly for a few more minutes before four Kalderi entered the courtyard of the manor through the stone lintled gate. Two of them Rene recognized as Andayll and Totlya both dressed in sober robes of dark blue. The second pair were new to the humans, both appeared to be male but dressed in what Rene was coming to think of as casual garb for the Kalderi, or at least, casual garb for the strata of Kalderi society that he and Solae had thus far interacted with. It was a human assumption that there were rich and poor of course, Rene didn’t know for certain that was true of the Kalderi. Some had grander houses than others and he assumed there were artisans who built the various wondrous devices, or at least designed them, but he hadn’t seen any evidence of them. Many humans felt that such economic divisions within the Stellar Empire were unnatural, but so long as humans continued to reproduce faster than their economy grew, and faster than they could terraform new worlds, inequity would continue. Rene was not an economist but he had been taught, and believed, that it was the role of the nobility to use their wealth and power to improve the lives of the common people by providing peace and stability. Perhaps if they had the leisure he could learn more of how the Kalderi had, apparently, met that challenge.

“Duchess Falia, we have come to discuss Totlya’s grievances,” Andalyll declared without preamble. Solae nodded solemnly. Lithyll had explained that speaking with the Voice of the Wronged meant that Totlya was entitled to tell his whole story without interruption. Under normal circumstances Rene would have readied some sort of recording device, but he was confident that Mia would take care of electronic records. Totlya stepped forward, pressing out his wings slightly to appear larger than he was. Rene was pleased to see that despite their differences in culture and physiology, there were some things which were apparently true of all young males.

“My mate, Bel’rian, was taken by force by a human trader who spirited her away on his ship,” Totlya declared, his words so rapid they almost tumbled over themselves. There was a momentary awkward pause before Andalyll beat his wings slightly. Rene wasn’t certain what the gesture meant but Totlya glanced at his kinsman and then turned back to the humans.

“Bel’rian is a collector of human art, she frequented the trading district. That is where she first met this human abductor, a trader named Bouradine,” the Kalderi explained, expanding his admirably succinct but not particularly useful description of his grievance. The disgust in his voice was evident when he spoke of the trader.

“Bouradine is a pirate, an outcast even among their own kind, they lured my Bel’rian to their store under the guise of providing her with new works of art. She went in and has not been seen since. The human coward was seen taking a large shipping crate from their store to their vessel at the starport before it flew off. When I went to his store I found it abandoned, cleaned out of everything of value. This human has abducted my mate, I demand redress! ” Totlya ended the tale on a shout, his voice having been steadily rising as he recounted his grievance. Andalyll looked a little embarrassed at this but none the less nodded his head.

“The community agrees that Totlya’s account is more or less correct, though it is unclear whether Bel’rian was abducted or went willingly.” Totlya opened his mouth to voice what was clearly an angry objection. Andalyll held up a hand and a wing in a blocking motion which silenced the youth.