POV: Lyra
I took a step forward and looked dead into Whitlaw's eyes. "I know why a minister should exist. But I cannot fathom why you and Alfred Cummings exist, Minister Whitlaw. You both don't even know which stations need help during Rogue attacks. You both couldn't even tell me why we had to pay a 'to-be-confirmed' amount for Lyrokan warriors to help in a Rogue attack. And I distinctly remember it was you, Pierre Whitlaw, who told me to give up being a Combat Specialist because I was asking too many questions."
Pierre's face was turning white, his pathways dimming to almost nothing, but I didn't waver. "You want to talk about procedure? It was your procedures that made stations resort to borrowing funds from each other to support their personnel. It's because of procedures that relief applications almost never reach the final stage for credits to be disbursed. And you want to speak about permission?" I scoffed. "I didn't see you complaining about a lack of permission when we fought off the Rogues at Jewel Station, or any of the battles we fought before that. Why are you complaining about a lack of permission to resolve a combat training dispute? Is your job scope only here, on this training deck?"
He opened his mouth but nothing came out. He was already shaking, his Lyrokan pathways flickering erratically. I burned my gaze into his as I said, "Be grateful that we're doing your job while you hold your position, Whitlaw. Otherwise, give up being a Minister because you've been answering too few questions."
"I—I apologize, my Empress. Excuse me." Whitlaw said and scurried away, Alfred following suit.
I finally took in the scene around me. Everyone had stopped their combat drills to watch the incident. They were all looking at me. Some smiled while others resisted laughing at the retreating ministers. I took a breath to calm down, feeling my skin shift from angry red back to normal silver. I clapped my hands once before calling out, "Alright, everyone. Show's over. Get back to training."
I expected only retreating figures and turned-away heads after that. To my surprise, there were slight bows and muffled voices uttering, "Yes, my Empress." And everyone returned to their respective training mats to continue their drills.
Orion was looking at me in pure awe and admiration, his purple pathways pulsing with pride. "You're just... amazing."
I smirked. "Flattery isn't going to get you out of training, dearest. Go on now, my Emperor."
He pressed his lips to mine briefly, neural sparks cascading between us, before saying in a husky voice, "I want to talk to you later about what you just told Whitlaw. But for now, I must obey my Empress's command." He pressed another kiss to my forehead before joining his cousin.
Christian didn't even wait to get back on their mat before initiating a mind-touch. I could tell from their glazed eyes they were in deep telepathic conversation. Probably about what I'd just revealed.
At lunch, I was speaking to Sir Weaver and Lord Yarrington, both of whom Toby and I had given pointers to during training earlier. They were interested in hearing about how Kaelari were faring in environmental issues and education across the outer stations.
I happily introduced Sir Weaver to station personnel who'd been having water recycling shortages for cycles. Weaver, although a Lyrokan, had a less daunting presence than Orion. He was welcoming and attentive, his pathways maintaining a calm blue as he allowed the Kaelari to speak freely while raising their concerns. So I only had to stay with them for the first few minutes.
I then got a few other Kaelari who always had strong opinions about changing the education systems to Lord Yarrington. He looked more stern in his demeanor, his pathways a steady white, so I wasn't confident about leaving the Kaelari alone with him. But as the minutes passed, I noticed those speaking to him were quite comfortable in their manner. Perhaps all those bottled-up dissatisfactions were finally being released.
A hand from behind pressed gently on my abdomen, and I gasped in surprise as the neural sparks confirmed it was Orion. "My Emperor." The Lyrokan minister and the Kaelari bowed. Orion bowed back and they stood when he did. He looked at me and asked softly, "Can I borrow you for the rest of lunch hour?"
"Uh..." I looked at the Kaelari and asked, "Will you all be alright without me here?"
One of them said, "Yes, of course, Lyra! Thank you for telling us about this!"
I smiled graciously. "Oh, don't thank me, Benedict. Lord Yarrington himself wanted to know. The credit is his to take. Thank you, minister."
Lord Yarrington's pathways brightened as he smiled. "It's an honor to serve alongside you, my Empress."
I turned back to Orion, who led me to the nutrient station. We got our meal supplements and sat with Christian. Christian smiled but it was clear something weighed on his mind. I noticed their eyes glazing over—deep in mind-touch—so I didn't interrupt. We all consumed in silence. Even after the cousins finished, they continued their telepathic exchange. This went on until I finished my own nutrients and started sipping my hydration solution.
"So, Lyra." Orion began, his pathways shifting to that serious purple-black.
"Mm. Yes?" I asked after swallowing.
Orion asked, "When you told Whitlaw about a 'to-be-confirmed amount for Lyrokan warriors', what did you mean?"
I looked at the two cousins, both radiating seriousness through their pathways as they waited for my answer. I explained casually, "What do you mean what do I mean? It's exactly that. I didn't know why the amount stations had to pay for Lyrokan warriors to help in Rogue attacks was a to-be-quantified amount. I still don't know, honestly. Among ourselves, we Kaelari just decided to rely on our own warriors and allies who do it for free. I asked Whitlaw about it after Cummings shooed me away. Whitlaw told me the ministry had full discretion to quantify the charges. I asked what the factors in the calculation were. Was it the number of hours of the attack, or the number of hours they were in the station itself, or whether there'd be different rates depending on the skill level of the Lyrokans they were sending... He just said I was a typical female who overthought everything and shooed me off after that too. Juan was there. He almost lost his temper—his pathways went full black—so I had to pull him away."
I chuckled at the last part but the cousins exchanged uneasy glances, their pathways flickering with distress, before Christian prompted, "My Empress, you also mentioned most relief applications never make it to the stage of credit disbursement?"
After taking another sip from my cylinder and swallowing hastily, I said, "Oh, that. Well..." I chuckled again but looking at the confused cousins, I considered my next move carefully. "Give me a minute. I need to make this as cordial as possible."
"No, Lyra. Don't water down anything. We don't care how badly it hurts." Orion insisted, his pathways pulsing with determination.
"Are you sure?" I asked with uncertainty, my skin shifting to worried blue. Orion looked at me encouragingly, his purple eyes intense, and Christian offered a small smile, his pathways steady as he said, "Go on, my Empress, please."
I sighed, my skin cycling through several colors before settling on resigned silver. "This is going to hurt pretty badly."
And they have no idea how deep this corruption runs, I thought, preparing to shatter their illusions about their own government.