“That’s the secret truth about the kind of people you’re dealing with, Princess. They’ll tell you one thing, and then do the other, simply because they can, and are usually correct in assuming you won’t notice the difference. It’s coded in their DNA. We call them enabled sociopaths. You call them politicians.”
Yakish waited for a response. The young princess Elise looked so tiny as her bodyguard/servants inserted her into her formal regalia. She looked small and fragile. Pale and weak. She was barely past childhood.
“Thank you for your concern, Madam Adjudicator.” Princess Elise held her arms out so one of her attendants could wrap her about with a specially-fitted ceremonial corset. Tailored just for the occasion. At the end of the ceremony, it would be recycled to make other corsets. “But you have no need to worry about me.”
Another attendant bought a small knife on a silver tray. The delicate princess tested its heft and feel in her hand, as well as the sharpness of the blade. It then went into the integrated sheath that was part of the corset that, now that Yakish thought about it, could plausibly double as body armour.
It went in with a murmur of, “…for the honour of Vardia…”
Even though she’d seen it go in, Yakish had difficulty spotting where the hilt was.
A different servant added the purely decorative blade at her hip. Yet Princess Elise checked its draw, regardless.
“I’m… beginning to see that,” Yakish allowed.
“Vardians have been playing politics since we got settled in,” said the Princess. “These knives honour a time when we played politics in pools of blood. We still play with lives, Madam Adjudicator. But we play a more subtle game, where more is at stake than winning a crown.” Like the sparking gold thing riddled with gems that also, Yakish noted, held a small blade.
Her delicate-looking slippers were also armoured. The clicking noise they made as she walked was a warning. Danger approaches.
The Princess Elise, age twelve, smiled up at Yakish as if she were about to tell a joke. “Let them think me little. They’ll find out one way or another how dangerous it is to underestimate a Vardian.”
It took every conscious effort for Yakish not to recoil in horror.
She was a child, yes, but she was also a child who held the crown on the most dangerous planet in known space. She was a child who held worlds in the palm of her hand… and by her grace… decided the fates of billions.
Yakish began to thank her Gods that this child was responsible with her power.
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