The Best of World SF by Lavie Tidhar (children's ebooks free online .txt) 📕

His derisive snort was without humour and he glanced first at the silent Queen, then the Valencia. ‘That’s how you found me. It’s not why I’m here.’

The Valencia raised her eyebrows. ‘Tell me why then.’

‘I’m here because you’ve been trapped by your games and your lies.’

The Queen took a threatening step toward him, but he gave him a withering stare. ‘It wouldn’t be wise to hurt me or my wife when we both know you are desperate for my assistance.’

The Valencia’s eyes came alive for the first time, mirth crinkling their corners, though she never smiled. ‘Desperate? You’re the one who stands captive in your former Sept. The penalty for returning from exile is death.’

‘You don’t want me dead,’ he said. ‘The game was obvious the moment I saw your chair.’

The Valencia leaned back. He’d been married to her long enough to recognize her annoyance. ‘You’re still very much the Lucochin, aren’t you?’

‘You came here in a transport, instead of entering Valencia’s Greatwood and arriving at my Vineyard. I was delivered to my estate instead of Valencia’s because your Vineyard is no longer functioning as it should, and you couldn’t take the chance I wouldn’t arrive.

‘You had been searching for me for many tempi when the Consortium reached out to you. When you learned about my wife, you seized the chance to use her as leverage. Like a newly Septed Pawn, I obliged you by bringing her along.’

‘Don’t feel too badly,’ the Queen said, his voice cold and calm. ‘Sept Kingston’s White Knight was told to bring you both in alive. He chose subtlety over force. He knew no Kairi citizen would allow a mate to go anywhere without them.’

The Lucochin inclined his head mockingly. ‘You know everything but what’s most important. How to save the Greatwood. The Coretrees are fading, aren’t they? Accepting fewer and fewer stratagems from the Games, or problems from outsiders. Solutions have errors. Vineyard transports are erratic and inaccurate, if they work at all. I can only imagine how much cargo has been stranded or lost.’

‘How do you know any of this? You haven’t been here in many, many tempi.’ The Valencia’s voice was sharp.

‘The same way I know you had Alexandar killed after your marriage, so you could be promoted to Grandmaster. Your actions cost thousands of lives and destroyed any chance of mercy from me.’

‘Grandmaster Lucochin.’ He heard a soft snick as the Queen clenched his fingers, activating the weapon in his gloves. ‘You will respect the Valencia.’

‘What are a few thousand souls?’ she replied with a shrug. ‘The Game separates the useful from the useless and ensures resources are not strained beyond capacity. You haven’t been so long from Valencia you’ve forgotten your work as Grandmaster, have you?’

‘You have my wife,’ he said, refusing to give in to the guilt and shame that flashed through him at the mention of his past. ‘Make your demands.’

The Valencia’s head made a slight nod and the Queen stepped back to her side, fingers loose.

‘Grandmaster Lucochin. You will attend the Coretrees in the Greatwood and return them to health. You will attend Valencia’s Vineyards and return them to health. You will do these things quickly and well, or I will give your wife to the Consortium, so they may seek redress for their injustices.’

‘Injustices?’ He raised an eyebrow. ‘You apply this term to slave traders?’

‘I apply it to a client. It’s not for me to judge an artificial lifeform because it has no attachment to biological entities. Only to provide the contracted solution, where possible.’

She stood. The Queen touched thumb to middle finger and the Knights re-entered the room, forming a silent phalanx behind the Lucochin.

‘What is your answer, Grandmaster Lucochin?’

He bowed, as custom dictated, then met her gaze with an unflinching one of his own. ‘Show her to me and I’ll do as you ask.’

The Queen raised his hands, brought his extended index fingers together then drew a glowing square in front of him. The square filled with the image of a suspension chamber. His wife was enclosed beneath the transparent lid, her sleeping face tranquil.

It took a supreme effort not to leap forward and snap the Queen’s neck.

Patience, he told himself.

‘Take me to her,’ he said.

The Valencia smiled. ‘Not before the Greatwood is repaired.’

Of course. They would never let him use the annex at his own Sept. They didn’t trust him.

And they shouldn’t.

‘Then take me to the Greatwood.’

*

The Rook stopped short when the maintenance robot rolled directly into his path.

*You are Second Rook of the Sept Kingston. Confirm.*

The Rook put a hand to the spear on his waist as he read the robot’s serial number.

‘Unit 1014, you have deviated from your assigned tasks.’

*Correct.*

‘You are malfunctioning, Unit 1014. Proceed to the nearest repair station.’

*This bot is functioning at 86% efficiency. Confirm identity.*

The Rook unsnapped his spear and sank into an attack position.

‘I am Second Rook of Sept Kingston. Identify yourself.’

*Second Rook,* the robot replied, *There has been a Stage Four violation against my shell. Vineyard link to Valencia was closed without notification. Caution Protocol enacted.*

The Rook’s fingers flexed on his weapon. ‘You are the solo-ship?’

*I am Sister to Eva Gomez. You have committed infractions against my sibling. There will be consequences. Release my ship. Take me to my Primarch.*

The Rook sliced the humming point of his spear at the machine.

It rolled backward, unfolding two cutting attachments from its conical body.

*Second Rook,* it intoned. *You have attempted violence on a temporary shell. There will be consequences.*

‘Hear me,’ the Rook replied calmly. ‘Your demands will not be met. I’m under orders from my Grandmaster to secure your solo-ship indefinitely.’

He took a step forward and slashed at the robot. It slid out of the way, snapping its shears onto the end of the spear. The Rook tugged the robot toward it with one hand and drew an energy blade from his belt with the other. In a single movement, he sliced through the control box on the side of the robot. It settled