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Irk capital
1 year later
 
 

  Dirn smiled as she watched the two boys' expressions. The imperial palace always had this effect.

  The two stood side by side in the courtyard, metal pathway to the front gates stretching out ahead of them. They stood in their traditional white academy uniforms, overcoats draping over their bodies and hiding their arms all the way down to the wrists. Around them were clustered their many nurses, all in neatly pressed official uniforms. Sorun and Teir stood among them like daisies among the grass.

  They had been summoned on very short notice to the imperial palace to have dinner with Tallest Rarg, and the reasons given for the invite were vague at best. As Sorun understood it, it was a matter of formality. They had half a year to their education left and he supposed Tallest Rarg wanted to meet his heirs before one of them ascended the throne.

  Dirn approached them imperiously, head high and feet stepping loudly on the plating. She was dressed in a navy pilot's uniform today, with a high collar coming up to just below her eyes. It was a good uniform for hiding one's expressions, and it managed to look militaristic enough without going as far as the soldier's uniform.

  Dirn came to a textbook halt a few feet from the huddle and bowed, arm over her chest. Rising, she spoke, voice overflowing with confidence.

  "Welcome to the imperial palace, my lords. Your trip from Kend was enjoyable, I trust?"

  She was aware that Teir was staring quite hard at her. Perhaps he was more than a bit ill at ease with being addressed as a lord. Undaunted, Dirn continued, "I will send palace staff down to collect your baggage shortly. In the meantime, may I ask that you follow me? His Tallest is expecting you." Dirn turned around swiftly, and began to walk toward the palace.

  "Why are we being addressed by a pilot?" Teir demanded.

  Dirn stopped. Under the collar, she ground her teeth.

  She spun around. "I am Chief Advisor Dirn, foolish child!"

  Teir's eyes went wide in recognition of the name. He fell silent, lowering his head. Dirn smiled a smile no one saw, and turned once again to the palace. This time, the entire group followed her without a word.

  Dirn... so she's the one that rejected our letter!Teir said to himself, glowering.

  There is an intimate sort of connection that can be forged by the transferrence of letters. Although the communication form is in many ways severely limited, there is nevertheless something very personal in written words sent to one another. In a way, Teir and Dirn were already formally introduced to one another, had had a conversation, which ended with Dirn punching Teir in the gut for the thrill of it.

  A grudge had been established, and the damage was now irrepairable.

  They reached the gates. They were wooden, which was an incredible testament to their age. But the wood was so old and so hardened that it was as tough as the metal bands that held it. In a way, it was thanks to its organic nature that made it seem even more impervious than the metal that surrounded it.

  These gates swung back with ease on powered hinges, leading into an inner courtyard. A thin walkway was framed by two high strips of metal railing, dotted with small white lamps that would come alight in the evenings. Beyond the walkway were tall sculptures mounted on unshakable metal pillars, bearing every artistic style either Sorun or Teir had ever seen. Nearing the palace itself, the walkway became framed also by rows of tall pillars, and each was capped, Teir realized, by a statue of a former Tallest. The newest ones were furthest out, and extended from the palace doors a very long way. Rarg's statue was a match to that of his predecessor on the other side of the walkway, and it seemed that once the next Tallest was crowned there would be an uneven number of pillars.

  The front doors of the palace were of metal, deep crimson with a violet frame, and highly polished. Two small guard robots stood to either side of it, holding ornamental staffs. Dirn approached, and the doors gave a chime and swung back into the palace's foyar. The entryway was covered in dark purple and red flagstones, the walls were magenta and curved upward into a domed roof. Doorways punctuated the walls and led off in a dozen different directions, and a pair of curved stairwells led up to a platform to the second level.

  "No turbolifts?" Sorun asked, a shade disappointed.

  "We prefer to keep things formal in this area of the palace," Dirn said stiffly. "Follow me, please."

  "Who prefers to?" the red-eyed boy persisted. Dirn chose not to answer him as she proceeded to lead the group up the left of the two staircases.

  By now both Sorun and Teir were noticing that the doorways in the palace were much higher than back at their schoolhouse. All doorways they had seen extended over seven feet, but these by far dwarfed them. The doorway they entered upon reaching the top of the stairs had to be a good ten feet high. Was it just for the sake of excess, or did the architects of this place decide everything about the loomsome Tallest should loom as well?

  At the end of the long hallway they were led down, there was finally a lift. Dirn quickly gave clearance with the guard robot standing beside it, and turned to the assembled.

  "This is a meeting only for the young lords and their head nurse. Nurse Gori, if you would accompany us..." The turbolift's door slid back to reveal a circular room, wide enough to accomodate not many more than the four that were set to go up. Before they could voice any means of protest, Sorun and Teir were pushed and prodded into it, and stood hunched up against the far wall. Gori strutted proudly in, and Dirn followed after her. The doors closed, and they ascended.

  "Why's she coming?" Teir hissed at Dirn, unable to contain himself.

  Dirn straightened up, supressing the urge to yell at the boy. He was as insubordinate in speech as in his writing, she decided. "She is your head caretaker. What affects you also affects her."

  Gori glanced around at the boy. "No more questions out of you." Her hands, which had been clasped behind her back, unfolded and one began towards her utility pack. "Or else..."

  Teir scowled and opened his mouth to reply, but he caught Sorun's eye just before the first sounds escaped his lips. Teir shut his mouth and glared at the opposite wall instead.
 
 

  Rarg had been informed ahead of time that both the candidates by now exceeded him in height by over three quarters of an inch. Although this was happy news, he was sure to set the anti-gravity belt in his armor to have him hover slightly higher than usual. It wouldn't do well if the Tallest couldn't loom over everyone.

  He'd only really seen their names written down; nothing about the children had been uttered within the palace walls, sparing the press conference after their little excursion a few years ago --quasars, that had been a nova to clean up-- and he was still really uncertain of how to pronounce them, or, indeed, which one was which. Rarg's only clear indication would have been height, except he was informed now that the difference between their height was very slight, although he had read in Dirn's latest letter that one had started hunching, but she hadn't said which one or how often they did it.

  A chime came from the turbolift. Rarg turned around in place, arms behind his back, as the lift's doors began to slide apart into the wall with a quiet hiss. Dirn and a slightly shorter female Irken he presumed to be Gori filed out, marching in unison, and stopped to stand side-by-side before His Tallest, bowing deeply. Rarg glanced at them idly and returned his eyes to the lift, where a second pair of figures were --in a meek, unassuming manner-- beginning to emerge.

  Rarg blinked. Having avoided all the television reports on them following the voot runner incident, he hadn't expected that they'd look so alike. Or, even more unsettlingly, so much like him.

  The red-eyed one walked out ahead, though by no means in a leaderly stride, and his purple-eyed brethren followed behind him, keeping pace. They stopped soon after clearing the door of the lift, which closed and began to descend again, and stood huddled near the wall. Both sets of eyes never left Rarg's.

  Rarg smiled. He uncoupled his arms from behind them and held them outstretched. "Children!" he welcomed in a happy voice. "What a delight to finally meet you both."

  Neither of them moved from their spot.

  "Please do come closer. My voice isn't what it was and shouting is bad for my throat... Yes, that's it," Rarg said encouragingly, as the two, taking very small steps at first, approached. Waiting for them to come close enough, Rarg tried studying their height and, failing to distinguish anything, tried looking at their posture. There's nothing for it, he thought. "Now," he said entreatingly as the two came to a stop, several feet behind the smaller two Irkens, "what are your names?"

  The two boys glanced at each other very quickly. Then purple one, looking back to face Rarg, said expressionlessly, "Sorun and Teir."

  Despite all his years of training, Rarg's eye twitched. "Yes, of course. Well, I am glad to see both of you in such fine condition. Feeding you all right, are they? Giving you plenty of exercise?"

  The red one shrugged. "It'd be nice to run around outside once in a while..." Gori's antennae twitched and she snapped her head around at the boy, who didn't appear to acknowledge her. "As for the food, well--"

  "We can't complain," the other one cut in. "We really can't." He glanced at his companion, then down at Gori and then back to the red-eyed boy, who gave the smallest of hardly perceptable nods in response.

  Ah, so that's how it is, Rarg thought. I see training hasn't changed much since when I was a boy...

  There was a bit of an akward silence during which none of the Irkens present had anything to say. In such circumstances, someone usually and foolishly tries to fill the silence up with something. It was Gori who spoke, saying, "My Tallest, the latest head of lessons that was sent to us two months ago--"

  "Was scared off, like the other four. Yes. It was in Advisor Dirn's report."

  "Indeed," Gori mumbled, head cast down, having been put off by Rarg's knowledge of such events. "We again request a teacher be sent in to conduct their lessons. If I may, I would like to recommend a former instructor from Devastis, if any are available."

  "Advisor Dirn has not reported that either child has had difficulty completing their assignments even without the aid of a teacher," Rarg said idly, still looking at the two boys. He was struggling to remember if any of Dirn's past reports had made mention of which had which eye color at all...

  The nurse paused for a moment. "...Yes, this is true, my lord, but..."

  His Tallest looked at the red-eyed boy. "Do you ever encounter problems with any of your school work?"

  The boy smiled weakly. "Not really, sir. Usually if one of us doesn't remember something, the other one does."

  "And if neither of us know, we just think about it logically for a while and it tends to come to us," the other one added, with a touch of pride. "Maths and sciences follow very set patterns, after all. So does history, if you look at it a certain way."

  "Fascinating," said Rarg, a smile tugging at the corner of his mouth. He was deciding he really didn't like this purple-eyed child. The boy seemed to have gone beyond just knowing what was in books and info-feeds and was harboring a true sense of intelligence. It was a dangerous thing for someone in government to have, and Rarg hoped to Irk this boy was the shorter of the two.

  Gori seemed very upset. She turned fully around with her back to Tallest Rarg, hands on her hips as she glared up at Sorun and Teir. "You've been copying off each other's work?!"

  Both of them recoiled a little. The red one said defensively, "No, we just help each other with our assignments--"

  "You've been cheating! You little brats, you've been cheating all this time!"

  Dirn's eyes went wide and frantic. She glanced between Gori and the Tallest, and had to stop herself from edging away to avoid the coming maelstrom. Whether or not Rarg liked either of the candidates for the throne, they were Tallest-class children. The closest Dirn could approximate to it was an old story from back before the nurseries, where the palace schoolmaster of the time had disciplined the Tallest's own offspring in his presence, and was executed for it. This was similar, though far from identical, to what was starting to happen now.

  But to Dirn's utter amazement, there came no round of hateful yells but a short, pleasant chuckle. Rarg said calmly, "They are far from little, Nurse Gori."

  Remembering herself, Gori snapped around. Her face was pale. "Yes, of course, my Tallest, I meant no--"

  "I see you truly are the apprentice of Vab. Well done. Look well, children: this is as an ideal schoolmaster as there shall ever be. May all that come after her follow her example."

  Gori beamed. Sorun and Teir stared blankly.

  "No new head of lessons will be sent to the school, Nurse Gori; the two seem to be doing just fine on their own, and I trust that the contents of the house's library are more than sufficient should they encounter difficulties." A flicker of a smile crossed the purple one's face. "I believe that if there are no other matters for the five of us to discuss, that we shall conclude this meeting. Feel free to explore the palace grounds until dinner time. Advisor Dirn will appoint someone as a guide... Now, do not turn to leave, you two, I meant only that the five of us have no more business. Advisor Dirn and Nurse Gori may leave. You two, if you would do so well as to remain here..."

  The two boys looked nervously at each other, but remained where they stood while the two small females made their exit. When Gori and Dirn had gone, Rarg made no special acknowledgement of this, standing silent with his arms behind his back.

  Eventually he let out an exasperated sigh and hovered closer to them. "All right. No more foolishness." He pointed a clawlike finger at the red-eyed one. "Teir, right?"

  The young Irken blinked. "Er... no, sir."

  Biting his lip as he recovered from this, Rarg nodded his head. "Right. Sorun, Teir. Sorun, Teir. Am I pronouncing that right?"

  "We usually don't put as much emphasis on the first syllable like that, sir," the one identified as Sorun said helpfully. "They're to be spoken mildly, that's what one of our nurses used to say."

  "Which nurse would that be?" Rarg asked to fill up space while his mind raced to figure out how to lesson first syllable emphasis as the boy was suggesting. And didn't Teir just have one vowel to it anyway?

  Sorun's face fell, trying to mask whatever expression that was coming across it. His companion, seeking to cover for him, spoke up: "...Nurse Sut, sir. Our original head of lessons."

  Memory sparked the Tallest's face. "Ah." His expression hardened. "Sorun and Teir... Is that right?"

  "Just about, sir," said the violet-eyed one, seeming amused.

  "Right, right." Rarg looked at each of the boys once again, mouthing their names, and then shut his eyes. "Now... switch about or something, let me see if I have this right..."

  The Irken children glanced at each other, and grins spread across their faces. They switched places so that Teir stood to Sorun's right, and then, very quickly, switched back.

  "'Kay."

  Rarg opened his eyes and inhaled. He pointed at Teir. "...Teir, right?"

  "No, sir, I'm Sorun," said the boy, face blank.

  Undaunted, Rarg turned to the other child. "So you're Teir?"

  "Yes, sir, I'm Sorun."

  Rarg began to smile, but stopped and blinked obtusely. "Wait a minute..." The two boys started to snicker, eyes shut in delight. "Now just hold on!" He jabbed a claw at Sorun, pressing it forcefully into the boy's chest. "You are Teir, right?"

  "No, sir."

  "So you are Teir!" he yelled, looking wildly at the other boy.

  "Yes, sir, I'm Sorun."

  Years of emotional restraint came tumbling down. Rarg howled with anger. "That's quite enough of that!" He hovered backwards and up slightly, and pointed imperiously at Sorun. "Red," he commanded, and moved the finger towards Teir. "Purple."

  "Is that understood?" he snarled, settling back towards the ground slightly.

  The newly christened Red and Purple stared at him, astounded.

  The former Sorun stammered, "But you can't--"

  His brethren interrupted him, speaking softly, sounding as if he'd been defeated in battle yet left alive to suffer. "No one can change an Irken's name. Except for the Tallest." He bowed his head. "And most consider it a gift."

  Seeing the defeat had come to him too, Red lowered his head as well. Rarg only smiled.