In the Shadow of the Rings by Frank Kennedy (grave mercy .txt) 📕

“My brother is an idiot,” she said. “Even if I never discovered the truth, it was bound to ruin us someday. For what it’s worth, I didn’t find Dae’s name on the memglass. Lang might be working alone. But

he and Dae have always been a tandem. Here.”

She placed the memglass on the corner of her father’s desk. He leaned back, as if it were poison. She turned toward the door and did not slow down for her parting remark:

“Please let me know when you’re ready to intervene.”

She closed the double doors behind her and prepared to vomit.

Even if she succeeded in securing intervention, her parents were not going to stand for this shocking level of impertinence.

Consequences were inevitable. Of al the emotions roiling Kara, none approached exultation. That she stood up to them at last, proved herself at least as influential in the family dynamic as her brothers, meant nothing. Kara acknowledged a ready truth: She was a Syung-Low through and through. Nothing was beneath her now.

Maybe it was always there, lying dormant inside this treacherous child of privilege. Maybe this was the true reason behind refinery: The Gentry knew themselves to be selfish, double-dealing bastards, so they deemed the occasional blood-letting an act of atonement.

Pour al their shame into a few others to cleanse themselves of their collective guilt.

Dinner was, to Kara’s surprise, uneventful. Her parents seemed to have developed amnesia and carried on with the usual discussions of business, politics, and the social calendar.

Days passed.

Weeks followed in silence.

No consequences. No disdainful stares. No suspicious tones.

The winter solstice arrived, its only difference from summer being a slight declination of the sun’s west-to-east trajectory. Kara wondered what seasons were like.

She was sunbathing on the balcony outside her private suite when she heard a familiar voice inside.

“Miss Syung?”

Her pulse sharpened. It can’t be.

She threw off her sunglasses and raced inside.

Chi-Qua Motebe wore a humble yellow dress with a purple quovis flower pinned above her heart. Her hair was thin, a pixie cut. Her lipstick matched the flower. In her left hand, a suitcase.

None of these things mattered to Kara. She focused on the eyes.

Dark, like the depths of the ocean, and yet empty. Despondent.

Resentful. No joy whatsoever.

The eyes of a prisoner.

Kara spent months preparing, but she didn’t know where to begin.

Their reunion was not as she imagined.

Chi-Qua set down the suitcase and clasped her arms over her chest.

“Hel o, Miss Syung,” she said, as a servant might. “If you wil show me to my room, we wil discuss protocol.”

“Pro …? Wait, what? Chi-Qua. It’s me. It’s us. I can’t believe after sixteen months, we’re final y together again. I …”

“But we’re not. Are we? I am to be your personal assistant.”

“Yes. I … technical y. But you’l never be my servant. Don’t you see?

This is how the Baek household wil be restored. Please, Chi-Qua. Come sit with me outside. We have so much time to make up.”

“Perhaps later, Miss Syung. This day … it’s been long. I assume I’l find appropriate clothing for household staff in my room?”

What have I done?

She took a step back and reset. Chi-Qua was right. They’d have time for chatter. Kara’s mother and father would be insistent on proper staff attire. Be patient. You don’t know what she’s been through.

Kara led Chi-Qua down the hal to the suite’s second largest bedroom, which was also equipped with ample office equipment.

Inside, Kara gasped when she saw an assortment of dresses and pantsuits in the house colors of red and white laid out upon the bed.

Mother’s work, for certain.

“I’l try them on,” Chi-Qua said with feather-soft tone. “I’m sure something wil fit. Then I’l unpack, and we can discuss protocol.”

“Certainly.” Kara backed toward the door. “Chi-Qua?”

“Yes, Miss Syung.”

“I’ve missed you. It … it wil be good again. I promise.”

Chi-Qua nodded without smiling and stood silent with the suitcase in hand as Kara exited.

She was caught in a swirl of emotions returning to the master bedroom. Kara didn’t see Lang coming from the other direction until he was upon her. He wrapped her in a triumphant hug and offered a

beatific smile.

“So, you pul ed it off. She’s back. Congratulations, little sister.”

“How did you know that …?”

“Father told me yesterday. Said he was going to go public as the Baeks’ accuser. He wanted this to be a surprise. Very noble act, don’t you think?”

“Yes, Lang. Sometimes, Father rises above the others.”

Lang cut a laugh in half. “That’s one way to see it. At any rate, I hope you two are very happy. As friends, of course. Enjoy your time together.” He leaned in close and whispered. “One day, I am going to have Chi-Qua kil ed, and you wil know why.”

He pul ed away, his smile long gone. Lang did not stick around for a reaction.

Kara stumbled into her room, laid down on her bed, and cried.

3

Fallen of the Gentry

Standard Year 5361

HEN KARA SYUNG WAS eight years old, she accepted W her place as the lesser child beneath her brothers Lang and Dae. They were, according to Hokki tradition, the heirs most suited to build upon the family legacy. The first born must train in the same skills