He had been too rash, too confident in his feelings regarding the Tark boy, but his brother had shown him his error. “I will not,” He said, “Forgive me, brother, for assuming his fate.” Much could happen in two years, perhaps, despite everything, Orion Tark would prove to be loyal to them. There was a force inside him, now, that Leck had seen. He did not understand them, but perhaps, with time, he would. Not everyone could see, especially when the Valerian’s had clouded their minds. And Orion Tark had Valerian blood in his veins. It would not be easy for him. The Ancestors would decide his fate, but until then, Leck would remember not to make such assumptions.
But Aram was right in that. Loyal or no, there were rebels who would see him on the throne and he would pose a dangerous threat to their house. “Whatever happens with the boy,” Leck began, “House Quasar will prevail. We will finish what they started.” He gazed upwards at the statues which loomed far overhead. Their father had taken the throne and his brother would secure it. There were still threats to their House and position, Leck knew, but in time, they would be able to create a new empire: one that had no memory or loyalties to House Valerian.
If Leck had been Emperor, Orion Tark and his sisters would all be dead. Even Adria Tark, who had proven herself, was a risk to them alive. But if she truly was their loyal subject, she would see this, too, and accept her fate. Leck would have seen her killed without pain, for her loyalty, but she wouldn’t have been allowed to live, either. Aram had chosen to let her live, however, and Leck knew that his brother, ever wiser and stronger with the will of the Ancestors than he could ever be, had made his choice and Leck would not question it.
Leck nodded. “Maris Savik has done much. I admire her creativity and passion for her work. She should rest easy. If her daughter takes after her, the ancestors will find a way to spare her.” He may have supported Rora for these same reasons, but the truth was that he liked to support the candidate he thought would create the most destruction: the one he most cared to watch. He saw in Nial Rook a strong desire to survive.
“I swear I shall,” Leck said, feverently when Aram told him to be gentle with his future wife. And truly, in that moment, he meant it. But gentle was a relative term and Leck Quasar didn’t fully understand its meaning, nor did he know what it was to truly love or care for anyone other than himself. To him, Xia was a precious thing he owned, but not a living, breathing thing. He had many expectations for his wife and his marriage and none of them were realistic. Unfortunately for both Xia and his future children, Leck is far from gentle when he is displeased.
“Nor does Xia,” He agreed, “Not truly.” She had proven herself more willing to learn about House Quasar than Caressa Harand ever had. She seemed happy to please him, but he knew that she did not – and could not – see the glory of their house for what it truly was. It would take time and Leck thought himself a patient man. “When we are married, when she carries my son, she too, will see.” He agreed.
Leck’s plans for Reva were more about tearing it down than trying to restore it. The cures he took with him would be for his family and household, but he had never thought of distributing them amongst the populace. Reva was too infested with the seedy underworld of the scattered rebellion to risk it. Still, once he had whipped most of them out, then, perhaps, he would give freely to his loyal people. Under the Valerians they died, but under the Quasars, they lived. His brother was wise, indeed. He never would have considered this.
When Aram spoke about Caressa Harand’s wish to have their child born upon her home planet, a rage built up inside Leck. “How DARE she defy you in this manner! You are her husband, her king, her god! She feels she would be safer on that ancient, savage planet than here?” His voice shook and there was a fire in his eyes, but he remembered his place then and as quickly as the storm had come, it passed. “Forgive me, brother,” He said, hoarsely, softly, bowing his head to his brother. “She is your wife, my sister, and the mother of gods … as you say, she has yet to understand. In time … things will be better.”
It seemed to him that Caressa was resisting her new life as a Quasar at every turn, while Xia seemed to want to embrace it. He wished he was as confident in her as Aram appeared to be. He must trust, he must have faith. The Ancestors would guide them all …
He stopped in front of the likeness of their mother. She stood tall and proud next to their father. “I wish I could have known her … “ I wish I had not killed her. “If I had, I would better understand Caressa,” He added.
He nodded. He had learned from that attack on Aram and Caressa that had taken their child. He would not let the same happen again: to either of their families. Such an example had been made that he doubted anyone in all of Velorum Nocate should even dare to think of making another assassination attempt again, but they were fools, all of them, and Leck would never let down his guard. “What happened to your first son, will not happen to the second,” He promised, resting a hand upon Aram’s shoulder, “By the grace and protection of the ancestors, may your son live a long a healthy life.”
"There is nothing to forgive, my brother,” responded Aram Quasar, softly. He smiled fondly at Leck: so eager to learn, and prayed this was a good sign for the fate of Reva. Aram dearly loved his brother - his blood, his family - but he was not blind to his...extremes. Such extremes had been necessary during the Valerian occupation of Velorum Nocate, but now that it was in Quasar hands where it belonged, surely such measures were no longer necessary...or wise. An act of aggression must be asserted against vicious usurpers, but never against loyal subjects. Aram feared that Leck failed to grasp this important concept but did not know how properly to articulate it. He wondered if his father would even have tried...
“We must all pray the Ancestors will grant us the surest route, but should they wish to test us, instead, we will rise to the occasion and we will prove their faith in us well-placed. In so doing, we shall earn our place at their eternal side. We shall never die.” As Leck swore that they would finish what the Ancestors started, Aram clasped his fist to his breast in faithful agreement. Leck had the right of it, there, and no one could gainsay it. The Ancestors had already proven their might to the entire galaxy. “Just so we will put down the rebels who would see the doom of our great Ancestors. They shall feel the wrath of eternal damnation soon enough and we shall give all to the glory of our forebearers.”
He exhaled. “First we must route them out.” This was another advantage of Leck’s appointment to Reva: everyone knew it was the most frequent harbor of traitors. Aram had no doubts Leck would root them out and make them to suffer for their infidelities to the Ancestors. “When you are on Reva, I would know of the headway you make. I know there is none more capable than are you, my brother, in this. The Ancestors will guide you,” he added, placing a hand on his brother’s shoulder. “We are their sacred envoys on earth.”
Aram nodded thoughtfully. “It is my prayer, brother, that the Ancestors will look into her soul and deem her worthy and spare her. I pray for this outcome. But the Ancestors rarely look with pity upon those whose blood is tainted.” It had been so with all whose families had transgressed, saved Jaeme Wes, afterall. His father had often remarked that there was much sense in this: if the ancestors of such rebels worked their ill through those they’d left behind, surely the descendants too would turn traitorous.
For this reason, it was shocking to the Quasars that someone of Valerian DNA, such as Adria Tark, might turn out to be loyal. But, it seemed, her Tarkish ancestry had proven more powerful, in her case, than her Valerian blood. Still, they remained wary. A trusting man, Jaren had often said, was a dead man already. “If the girl dies, we must view it as a challenge issued. We must rise to these challenges, or crumble beneath them. Never must we shame the Ancestors,” Aram intoned, bowing his head. “I do not know what I shall do...” he trailed off and shook himself. “The Ancestors will guide me.”
Leck’s fervor was inspiring and Aram breathed out a sigh of relief. “Glad you will be that you have so acquitted yourself, my brother. The Ancestors will reward you for your stalwart faith. Your wife must be treated with all care for one day she will reign beside you as an Ancestress when it is to us that our descendants pray.” As Leck spoke of Xia carrying his future child, Aram reverently replied: “May the Ancestors grant you many strong sons.” He continued: “I think it prudent that, before your wedding, Xia come to Arvor for a few evenings. We must acquaint her with our ways more thoroughly so that she may come, prepared, to understand. Perhaps, together, our wives shall come to embrace the truth.”
Aram listened calmly to his brother’s outburst. All their lives, such responses had been common and, while many others may well have been shocked and afraid, Aram was - far from appalled - heartened that his brother reacted so. In a sense, it made him feel that his own concerns had not been out of line, as he had begun to fear. Though he felt he could understand Caressa’s misgivings, Leck’s reaction restored Aram’s self-confidence. Still, he did not enjoy the prospect of his brother feuding by any degrees with his wife. It would not do to have too much rancor within his own House.
“Peace, brother,” responded Aram, calmly. He touched his brother’s face fondly. “I will see all put to rights,” he assured him, dropping his hand as he gazed up at the towering countenance of Urren the Terrible. Though unacknowledged in their time, all of these people had been Emperors in their own right, just as Aram now was, and he took comfort in the notion of so many peers to guide him. “All is already forgiven,” he replied. “It heartens me to see your loyalty displayed here amongst our Ancestors, though perhaps it may be more carefully stated elsewhere,” he added with an wry smile, born more of affection than anything, as close as any Quasar had ever come to a quirk of humor.
Returning more directly to the subject at hand, Aram nodded absently. “It is simply that she fears for the child, as all mothers must. I believe it is a yearning, deep within her, to feel the embrace of her own Ancestors. All men, father said, crave the connection, though without proper education they do not always know what it is they seek. Caressa was not brought up with a proper understanding and thus she must seek the familiar security of her planet, never knowing it is indeed a higher power to which she should apply, as our Ancestors now shall guide her. She will come to understand,” he added. It was a prayer, more than a certainty.
Following his brother’s gaze, Aram turned his eyes upon the countenance of her mother. “She loved you,” replied Aram. “As dearly as ever she loved anything in this galaxy. She yearned, too, to know you. And she does, as you shall, when you are returned to the care of the Ancestors. We will all be united in them when our sons rise up to take our place in this plane.”
Slowly, he nodded. He agreed. Leck would understand more, had he known her. Often, Aram had thought Leck cheated by her early demise. They all had been. “I will not question the wisdom of the Ancestors in recalling her to them, but I do fully believe your path would have been more clear, had she lived. Yet, if the Ancestors wish to test you, they shall, and you will be stronger for it. We can only thank them for their mercy in not taking father at that time, as well. We might not be here today, were it otherwise, as they well know.” He paused. “Is there anything, brother, you wonder about her? Though not long, I did know her...”
As Leck invoked the protection of the Ancestors, Aram again clutched his fist to his heart in prayerful agreement. “May the Ancestors guide us all,” he replied fervently. It was guidance Aram most needed, now. As a youth, his path had always seemed clear, but of late that surety had dried up. The road upon which he toiled was clouded now and filled with snares. Aram refused to be the Emperor under whom House Quasar collapsed, but what was he to the will of the Ancestors? Still, he knew the truth. They had come too far to stumble now.
“Guide us, Ancestors, as our sons, in time, will pray us to guide them.” But, though he would never say it, it had been many years, now, since the Ancestors had answered a prayer of his. So Aram planned and he plotted and he drew on a faith that had all but deserted him when he felt he had no more strength left. For Leck, as much as for himself, he said: “We will finish what they started.”
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