“Oh, right,” Talis said. “That. Cumberland wants to sue for peace.” He cued Wilma Armenteros with one sharp finger.
“Cumberland,” she rumbled, “wants to sue for peace.” There was some hint of humor or defiance buried in that. Suddenly I could see where Elián got it.
Talis peered at Queen Anne over the tops of his glasses. “I would advise you to make no demands.”
“Surely, Lord Talis, that is a sovereign matter?”
“Surely,” he said. “But the PanPols have no cause to demand reparations. You have not suffered.”
Queen Anne lifted her eyebrows. “I am not sure my daughter would agree, milord.”
“Greta,” said Talis coolly, “is mine. And I would advise you to make no demands.”
Precise words, clicking out from between his teeth like pearls. I saw my mother grapple with them a moment, trying to unpack, to analyze. Then she turned to Armenteros, giving Talis a view of her borrowed shoulder. “The Pan Polar Confederacy waives its right to reparations. Withdraw your forces and your demands against the lake, Madame Secretary, and we will have peace.”
“Witness?” Armenteros glanced at Da-Xia.
“On behalf of the Mountain Glacial States, no party to this conflict, I witness this peace,” she said. “I bind you to it and I wish you joy of it.” I was confident that Xie had never had occasion to officially witness a treaty, but she did it flawlessly. Of course she did.
“Thank you, Your Divinity,” said Armenteros formally, and Xie answered, equally formal: “Long may peace endure.”
“Very long,” said Talis. “Or I will show you all a thing or two about endurance.” He pulled off his glasses and folded them away. “Now that that’s settled, shoo, warriors. I want to talk to my Children.”
Thus shooed, they went. Buckle took Armenteros under the arm as they walked away. The general was perhaps more frightened than she was letting on. I could not help a glance at Tolliver Burr trailing the officers, more wolf than dog. At the edge of the lawn the apple press seemed to keep its darkness as the light rose. Armenteros was right to be afraid.
Even after the rest of the Cumberlanders were gone, Elián stayed right at my side. And Brother Delta, with my mother’s virtual presence still animating him, lingered too. Talis flicked his fingers at her. “I said, shoo.”
She inclined her head respectfully. “My Lord Talis. I had only hoped for a word with my daughter.” She paused, her eyes seeking me, but her face, and Brother Delta’s heavy head, quite steady. “A good-bye,” she said. “Just that.”
“Later,” he said.
Her lips parted. So far as she knew, there would be no later.
“Later,” said Talis, baring his teeth at her.
Queen Anne nodded, her face turned on the screen as she reached for a switch, and she was gone. Brother Delta stood abandoned. Talis looked at the still form, his nose wrinkling in distaste. “Power up, then. Scurry off.” But nothing happened. Talis slapped the side of the head casing, hard. “Wake up.”
Brother Delta’s facescreen flashed and solarized, then focused and blinked. “Yes?”
“Leave,” said Talis.
We watched him go. The Abbot spread his hexapod support gingerly, using the stick to help him shift his center of gravity lower. Da-Xia stepped forward and took his other hand. “He’s getting old,” the Abbot said, softly. “I suppose we all are.”
“Gee,” said Elián. “Getting old. A fate worse than— Oh, wait, no it’s not.”
“I’ll upgrade him,” said Talis, ignoring Elián.
The Abbot was as near to sitting now as a thing with no waist ever got. He nodded to Xie. “Thank you, child. I’m all right.”
“Are you?” said Talis. “Because it looks to me like the cascade is . . .” He fiddled his fingers. “Cascading.”
“As they do,” said the Abbot. “I have some time yet, Michael. Tend to your other business.”
“Yeah, about that: Is my room online?”
“The grey room?” said Elián.
“No,” said the Abbot, ignoring Elián in his turn. At this stage we were all pretty good at it. “The shock ship’s EMP blew out the collimators. It will be at least a day before even the basic functions are online.”
“Hmmm,” said Talis. “And the more advanced functions?”
The Abbot glanced toward me, his eyes widening. Xie caught the glance.
Elián, of course, missed it. “How advanced do you need your murders to be? Because I saw Grego die. It didn’t look all that hard.”
Talis smiled. “Keep snarking at me, Elián Palnik, and we’ll see how hard I can make it.”
That stopped even Elián. Frankly I think the look on Talis’s face could have stopped the sea.
“As for the advanced functions,” said the Abbot, “I am not sure. I really know little about the technical aspects of such things.”
“You could look it up,” said Talis, plainly irritated.