“No, I just don’t want it,” said Ingray. And the free-falling fear that had been growing ever since Netano had made her offer dissipated. Mostly. “I’m not your best choice. I wouldn’t be good at it. Whatever the news services are saying about me now, it won’t last, and I’m not good at the politics. No, you should give it to Danach.” And then she braced herself for the inevitable result of having thwarted Netano.
To Ingray’s distressed astonishment, Nuncle Lak laughed. “I warned you, sis. Way back when.” Amazingly, Netano only sighed again. Nuncle Lak continued. “I suppose it’s useless for me to make the same offer and ask you to be my heir? Not that I don’t want to very much, but it would mean you’d have to work closely with Danach, and, well, I know how that’s bound to turn out. I’d have offered long since, otherwise.”
“Ingray, dear,” began Netano, into Ingray’s inability to answer this. “I really think …”
“Don’t argue with her, sis,” said Nuncle Lak. “She knows what she wants. If that’s not what you want, well, that’s how it is to have children. And I imagine it’s the better choice for her, if not for you.”
“No,” protested Ingray. “No, Danach will be much better. He’s wanted it all his life.”
“Which isn’t the same as being suited to it,” pointed out Nuncle Lak. “But no matter his deficiencies—no, we’re not discussing that right now,” he said as Netano sighed again. “But no matter the question of how suited he is, I do think he’ll work very hard to be worthy of it.”
“Yes,” agreed Netano. “I think he will.”
“But, Nuncle,” asked Ingray, “do I still have my job?”
As Ingray stepped back into her own room, Garal was just finishing saying something, and Taucris and Tic both laughed. They all fell silent when they saw Ingray standing there, tense, managing to look as though nothing had happened, or so she thought, but Taucris immediately said, concerned, “What happened?” and they all turned to stare at her.
She tried to swallow and found she couldn’t. “Mama said she wanted to give me her name.”
“Congratulations,” Tic said. “I know that’s an important thing here, and quite something when the name you’re getting is Netano Aughskold’s.”
Taucris frowned, still concerned. Garal said, “I was wrong, you will be in a position to do something about the situation in Compassionate Removal. Or at least to try.”
Ingray opened her mouth to answer, and burst into tears. Taucris leapt off the bed and put her arms around Ingray, who gratefully laid her head on Taucris’s shoulder. After a few moments Ingray managed to say, “I said no.”
A moment of silence. Ingray could see nothing but the green silk of Taucris’s shirt, which Ingray hoped wouldn’t be damaged by the tears soaking it. Then Tic said, “Oh, thank goodness. I was having trouble imagining you as Representative Aughskold, but I wasn’t going to say anything if that was what you wanted.”
“I thought it was,” admitted Ingray, still into Taucris’s shoulder. “And when she said it, I don’t know, I meant to say yes or thank you or something but instead I said no.”
“Here, sit down,” said Taucris. “I’ll pour you some serbat.”
“I’m sorry,” said Garal, when she’d sat down and Taucris was reaching for a cup.
“For what?” asked Ingray.
“You started crying right when I said that about reforming Compassionate Removal. I didn’t mean to make you feel like you were responsible for that. Because you’re not. It’s very important to me, and I would love to have your help, but you’re not the only help I have. The important thing is you didn’t say yes to something that would have made you unhappy.”
“Oh.” Ingray wiped her eyes and took the cup of serbat Taucris offered. “I’m not sure I even heard that. I just …” Fresh tears threatened. No, no, she had heard it, and she had felt, at that moment, that she had failed em. And that had been as much as her self-control could take.
“Do you still have your job?” Taucris asked.
“Yes. Yes, and even if I get my own place I’ll always have my room at home, Mama said.”
“Parents always say that,” said Taucris.
“Do they?” asked Tic. “Mine didn’t.”
“Nor mine,” Garal said, voice dry.
“Well,” observed Ingray, with a small hiccup, “but I didn’t get any sea worms.”
“Not everyone can be as lucky as I am,” Tic agreed.
The next morning Ingray met briefly with Nuncle Lak. “Well, I’ll be sorry to lose you in the office,” e said, from the wall of Ingray’s room, as she and Taucris sat cross-legged on her bed. “But I think it’s the right choice. Any sort of reform of Compassionate Removal will need more than just Netano’s support, so it’s better if you do that on your own, officially. And of course any charity work you do, especially with the district’s public crèches, will be good for everyone, whether or not you’re doing it in Netano’s name.” E sighed. “I do wish you’d stay to talk to the major news services. But I can’t blame you for wanting to go straight home. I would, in your place.”
“The Arsamol District Voice will be very happy with their exclusive, though,” Taucris pointed out.
“They will,” agreed Nuncle Lak, with a smile. “And Netano can only benefit from that as well, which I will certainly point out to her when she wakes up. We talked to Danach last night, and of course he’s very happy, though he was certainly surprised. He’s too smart not to realize that you probably turned it down, Ingray, but also too smart to say anything about it. We’re delaying the announcement, though. We don’t want to give anyone the impression that you’ve been slighted. So actually the fact that you’ve got some plans of your own is very helpful to us.”
“It’s better to do it that way,” agreed Ingray. She’d had confidence that Nuncle Lak would have reached the same conclusions she had, but she still felt relief. If Danach were to be announced as Netano’s heir immediately, Ingray would have to stay here a few days, to be seen congratulating him, and to avoid giving the impression that she resented the choice. “You’ll have time to plan the announcement, and make sure there’s a big party.” Danach would like that.
“Yes,” Nuncle Lak agreed. “And Danach won’t have to share the spotlight the whole time. You’ll come, though, yes? It won’t be for a few months, at the very least.”
“Yes, of course,” said Ingray.