The storm over the sea was picking up rage. I stood on the same pier, where I had met Bemariq while deep in thoughts of pure greed.

Supposedly, decent swimmers had hard time deliberately drowning themselves. However, once soaked, my clothes would have dragged me into the depths.

I didn't want to fill my lungs with brine. I wanted Bemariq, yet returning to him was to lose him.

The wet and cold overpowered my self-pity. I went to a nearby establishment and ordered a warm drink with overt enough sweetness to drown at least a part of my glum mood.

We couldn't have known, what we would find in the vault. I couldn't be blamed for having fallen for Bemariq. On the other hand, there was little fault in Bemariq's motives.

A wife shouldn't ask her husband to give up taking risks. Not when so much --and not merely the man's pride-- was at stake. But I wasn't only selfish. I didn't desire that my husband gave up his life's work, for my sake alone. His life was at stake too.

Regardless of his motivations, Bemariq's sacrifice couldn't assure any kind of success. He might just end up dead, or find the facility too far gone to utilise to anyone's benefit. The empires might very well end up in a war regardless of Bemariq's deeds.

His willingness to risk it all showed more than anything that Bemariq wasn't heartless. A lump formed in my throat. He would have been wrecked by grief at the suite.

Perhaps that was wishful thinking. I couldn't be sure that I deserved his affection any more.

I needed to talk to someone to arrange my stormy thoughts. Unfortunately there was only person --save for Bemariq--, who had any frame of reference to my situation.

However, her interests seemed to align with mine. The magnatess Sitolytta wanted to keep everyone out of the vault, and I wanted to keep Bemariq from ruining his life inside. Though talking to her would be a betrayal, it was only a small one.

My clothes dripped on the expensive chair and rug below. An old knick-knack weighed in my sleeve. It was a reproduction of a Tudjan idol, old enough to have a bit of antique value. I wasn't quite sure, why I had abstracted the thing; a gullible pawnshop might pay at best a dozen slivers for the porcelain woman figurine.

The magnatess drank her herbal drink with deliberate slowness. Two of her goons stood behind me, ready to bash my head in.

"What exactly do you want?" she asked.

"To keep my husband out of the vault." I swallowed. This was treachery, regardless of the way I put it. "But not by forcing him. He's the lynchpin of the Conglomerate claim here. If he rejected it, out of his own will, the Jaan Directory could also leave Rolu alone."

Sitolytta tapped her cup. She gestured her footmen to leave the room.

"It certainly would make my life easier. Some back home have began to question the wisdom of my strategy here", Sitolytta said. "But on convincing your husband... How would you accomplish this feat?"

"I don't know. I assumed a schemer like yourself would have some ideas."

The magnatess grinned like some venomous beast. "I might have." She leaned back. Her hand lowered on her abdomen, and her smile disappeared. "I need to speak with you about something else. I seem to be pregnant."

I winced, but with her eyes lowered, the woman didn't pay notice.

Sitolytta continued in wistful voice: "I've had three children, all now in boarding schools in the mainland."

Either she had been very young, when she married, or she was older than she looked.

"But this pregnancy feels different. Perhaps it's merely my imagination, grown broody due to the circumstances..." Sitolytta's large eyes rose to stare into mine. "But after stabbing me, my carapace gurgled of 'eggs' and 'numbers'. Do you know anything about that?"

I stifled my grimace. "I can't say for sure, but the suit might have forced your ovulation, so that you'd carry multiples."

"How many?"

The image of the poor woman locked in the vault flashed in my mind.

"A dozen or so, possibly."

The magnatess started. With visible effort, she collected herself and clutched her cup in both hands. "Well. That's quite too many. Are you similar--"

"No." The word was like a skewer, even though it should have been a relief.

Sitolytta's unblinking stare didn't falter. "Could it be that those rumours peddled to me as intelligence were right? That you weren't quite fully a woman, when you went into the vault?"

I turned my face to look into the dark window. The night was deep black rain.

"How does that work?" Sitolytta continued. "How does a man decide to be a woman?"

"It's not like that."

"Not to mention someone from the Conglomerate..."

My heart skipped a beat. I turned to answer Sitolytta's stare. "Bemariq has never hurt me."

The magnatess smile warmed. "I must apologise. It's just that the sight of you reminds me of the fear of having my face crushed. Let's continue with actual business at hand."

We spoke of tentative plans, but the night was growing into a morning. I was weary to my bones. I left, and found accommodation in a nearby hostel.

I woke between the unpleasantly warm bedsheets. Already I missed the manly scent of my husband, his firm arms around me and his search for a pleasurable entrance. I cursed the starfarers and their vault, and thanked them in case they did the work of Our High Lady of Reason. The small of my back hurt from sleeping on the overly soft bed, but I forced myself up and dressed.

The chilly wind made me shudder, and the treachery of yestereve twisted by insides. I should have told Bemariq, instead skulking among his enemies. My hope was that the political realities would open his eyes to my point of view.

Rain and traffic had turned the roads into mires of mud. As the accommodations had taken the little money I had on me, I was forced to walk to Heva Academy.

I looked like a tramp in my muddy worn-down gown, so it took a while to gain access to the premises. I didn't have to wander the extensive grounds for long. After one of the geology students recognised me from the Karimma site, I gained an audience with the Lauded Researcher ni Salng.

It turned out that my husband had been reticent about the exact events inside the vault. Ni Salng was eager to pump me for information. I told him everything, except what had happened during the 'forced medical exam'. It was only fair that ni Salng knew everything useful. If the empires from beyond the ocean came to blows, they would fight over Roluan land.

"Despite neither Bemariq or me having any say on the issue, I must apologise that the Conglomerate forces are here on our behalf", I said.

Ni Salng smiled wide. "I am sure you wouldn't have it this way. Now tell me, lady Usinilim, does your husband truly plan integrating himself to the systems of the facility?"

"If he can't figure anything better, he will."

"Such a drastic action might lead to great success." The researcher's head bobbed. "Or to senseless loss without benefit. In an uncertain situation like this, I fear the latter should be assumed more probable."

Ni Salng sighed. "It is a shame I could not breach deeper into the vault. But it appears Rolu would be wise to openly take side of the Directory in this business. I will talk to my friends in the Ministry of Combat. Lady Usinilim, if you can, delay your husband's plans. The wheels of government turn slow, even in Rolu."

Outside the Academy gates, two tall men stood waiting. Their impressive Conglomerate-style livery made them stick out in the throng of modestly dressed servants and pupils. Not that they tried to hide: their eyes were firmly set upon me.

Old instincts told me to run. I could have disappeared into the crowd. However, I was no more a wastrel fearing authorities, but a woman of rank burdened by societal expectations.

I stood still and let the footmen approach me.

One of them bowed. "Good morning. Are you lady Usinilim?"

"I am." I straightened my back, but I had to stuff my hands into my sleeves to stop them from fidgeting.

"Come with us. A carriage is awaiting for you."

My delight of being inside a proper carriage was dampened by the circumstances. Instead of stopping at the Grand Baleen, the carriage continued down into the harbour to the glistening black oceanic liner.

The carriage opened an elytron, and a footman made a courteous gesture bidding me to step outside. "Right this way, lady Usinilim."

The pier had more than just liveried men. Several wore proper combat uniforms and held needlers.

"Where are you taking me?" I asked.

Nobody answered. I figured my dignity couldn't withstand any insisting. I followed the footman in silence.

The cabin was larger than the suite at the Grand Baleen, a sign of notable opulence on a sea vessel. The decor was equally luxurious: dark grey ivory bookshelves, amaranth velvet draperies, intricate furniture of polished steel.

In his silver and blue silk morning suit, associate Ayimun was subdued compared to the reception, but no less impressive. He gave my soiled gown a quick glance and indicated his utter disapproval with slight movement of his neck and nostrils.

"Lady Usinilim." His tone was that of a schoolmaster chastising a hoyden: grave but fatherly.

I curtsied and said: "Associate Ayimun."

"I will leave petty admonitions about your comportment to your husband. What concerns me is this: treason. After leaving the hotel without an escort or even a word to your guards, you were seen visiting the official of a state antagonistic to the Conglomerate. As you did not try hide to your activities, you will be allowed to explain yourself."

"Did you talk to my husband?"

Ayimun hesitated a moment. "No. Now tell me, what were you doing in the house of the Jaan representative?"

"My business is my own."

"We both know that is not true." He nodded at my hand. "Where's your wedding ring?"

I caught myself, before I rubbed my finger. "What do you want, associate?"

Ayimun scoffed. "I hoped life beyond the seas would have toughened associate Bemariq. I see now that is not the case. No proper husband would tolerate your insolence."

I opened my mouth, but Ayimun continued to speak in his resonant commanding voice: "What are you but a drifter, who stole a heart beyond her station? You haven't even done the least of your duty by bearing a child." The man's eyes hardened. "Recent rumours, which I would prefer to ignore as they put my friend in a poor light, imply you might not even be able to."

Ayimun nodded at the servants behind me. Two pairs of strong arms grabbed me. I struggled but couldn't stop them from ripping the gown off me. The stolen porcelain idol dropped on the floor and shattered into worthless little pieces.

Instead of fighting back, I pretended that I retained a shred of dignity. I allowed the brutes to pull of my underclothes, until I was in nothing but corset. Even though my face burned with shame, I kept my eyes in Ayimun's.

"I fail to see, what this sorry spectacle accomplishes." My voice wavered at the brink of breaking, but I did not cower.

A dull surprise break through Ayimun's expression. He lifted his chin. "Get lady Usinilim clothes suitable to her rank, and burn those rags." He walked past me. "You may use the bathroom to clean yourself."

"Thank you, associate", I spoke between my teeth.