The first person they met on the Emperor's private floor was Alex. He was fuming, red-faced, and talking to the air. His low voice hardly echoed down the corridor.

"Damn it, I don't care how close it is to the transfer. Get Emperor Leo and get him now." Pacing stiffly up and down the corridor, he nodded curtly at Miles and Felice. He listened to the replies coming through the temporal transceiver. "Sire." It sounded like a swear word. "You have to talk to her… She'll listen to me, Leo, I know that, but I'm not sure any of it's sinking in."

Alex stopped abruptly, turning with a boot-snap that startled Miles. "You owe me," he gritted, looking out the window to the skyline of the capital. "Neither of us wants to do this, but as a Vor lord, as a Vorkosigan, I have the right to ask. Delay the transfer. Talk to her. She's your wife."

Felice hustled Miles into the private rooms. "Cora will take care of Alex, when she gets here," she said.

Inside, four men did a scanner check on them and their escorts. Allegre was also there, armed with a stunner only, his earbug in place. "The Emperor wants to speak with you, privately, my Lord Auditor."

Miles nearly asked him which Emperor. "Are my parents here? And where is Raina?"

Allegre indicated the central suite. "The Viceroy and Vicereine are with the Empress. As for Raina, her brother locked her in another room, down the hall." Whatever the current Chief of ImpSec thought of his counterpart's methods, his expression didn't show it.

Emperor Gregor was in a sparsely furnished waiting room. "I heard about the attack," he said to Miles, indicating the bench against the wall.

Miles took the offered seat. "I couldn't stop her."

"I don't doubt it." Gregor looked pointedly at the ImpSec chief, who was still standing at the doorway.

"Are you sure, Your Majesty?" Allegre said. Gregor nodded, sitting down next to Miles. With a frown, Allegre shut the door behind him.

Gregor shook his head, as though ridding the atmosphere of rampant paranoia. "I only have a moment. But I need to talk to you."

Miles shifted. "Haven't you talked to Mother and Dad?"

"Yes. It helped. But you understand."

Miles nodded. Gregor was feeling the temporal whiplash too.

"I've made some grave decisions in the past few hours," said Gregor, "and God help us, I hope they're right. It was odd, having… Leo to consult. Emperor Leo. He's done well for himself. Do you realize, Miles, that gives me a certain time frame for my life span? He's a little older than fifty."

And what if Alex had been Count Vorkosigan? Miles shivered involuntarily. I shall outlive Gregor.

The Emperor continued, "He was careful not to say anything about my future, even though it's safe. Except that I will have one of the longest reigns in the history of the Imperium, and that they'll remember me as Gregor the Great. Has a nice alliterative ring to it, doesn't it? It's all so comforting and morbid at the same time."

He's babbling. "Gregor, I---"

"Miles---" They stopped.

"Sorry. Go ahead."

Gregor cleared his throat. "What I wanted to tell you was something Raina said to me, when we were trapped in the Residence. She looked me in the eye and said, 'Gregor, listen to me. They've turned off the power, and they've got nerve disruptors. But it won't be like before. Do you hear me? It won't be like before, I promise. So just keep your wits about you, and take care of Laisa.' "

Miles blinked uncertainly. "What did she mean?"

"And then I remembered," Gregor said, staring at the wall. "I remembered when I was five and the men with the nerve disruptors came to the Residence. Blue fire. Raina was right, I was terrified when the beams started hitting the shields. She knew about it, and she needed me to stay in the present." He took a breath. "At some point, their Uncle Gregor came to them and told them the story of Vordarian's War."

Gregor turned to Miles. "I'm not saying you should trust them. I'm only telling you why I do." No Imperial We's here. "These people know more about us than we do ourselves. But they--- especially the twins--- they're not above betrayal to get what they want."

He checked his chrono. "They're going to start prepping in half an hour. I'd better get back to Laisa."

Miles and Ekaterin finally got around to talking, despite frequent interruptions by the scanner-wielding guards. The topic of their mutual future remained one to be avoided. However, as expected, Ekaterin was more open than the night before. She confided her surprise at Cora's easy rapport with Nikki, as well as with her aunt and uncle. "Cora said she and her big brother were very close. And I looked at Nikki, my little boy, and I realized how odd it must be, for them."

By the time Miles excused himself to the entrance hall for a drink, he felt confident that the trip to the Surleau would do Ekaterin some good. He was not prepared for the sight of Alex, face in his hands, his younger sisters by his side. Miles lingered at the far end of the room, thirst forgotten.

The siblings paid no heed to the on-looking guards, perhaps out of habit. "…it's not your burden to carry," Cora was saying. She knelt beside her brother.

Alex looked up. His eyes were bleary and strained, too tired to cry. "It is," he whispered. "You don't know the oaths we swore to each other. By my word as Vorkosigan."

"But you were teenagers then!" said Felice.

"…does not diminish…" Alex shook his head. "Either way, it's a real danger. All Sebastian needs to do is wear her down until she can't tell who the enemies are."

"But do you really think it could get to the point of endangering Miles or Ekaterin?" Cora touched his arm briefly. "If Sebastian knows you so well, maybe he counted on this. We can't have you and Raina suspecting each other."

Alex's voice went flat. "From a security view, that's not the point. The point is, if Raina crossed the line, which of us could stop her? I'm the only one who knows how. I have to consider the contingency, it's my duty to do so." His eyes narrowed. "I wrote the protocol on protecting the Vorbarra family from the Empress Admiral, should she… relapse. Including when to employ deadly force."

He leaned back and closed his eyes. "But you're right, of course. I'm letting the personal interfere." Softly, "It was a little suicide fantasy of ours, to cut it out, clean, quid pro quo---"

"Alex!" said Cora sharply. Alex fell silent. After a moment, his gaze met Miles's beneath lidded eyes.

Miles had caught the reference. Part of him was horrified, and part of him understood that adolescent desire to … finish the job, in the Old Vor way. A lifetime of memories twinged to life, like old bone breaks. I'd forgotten how much it hurt, the first time through. They cannot even hide behind 'I am not a mutant!' He cleared his throat. "Perhaps it's not my place to say anything…"

"Don't be silly, you're family," Cora said.

That gave Miles pause. He swallowed, and went on. "Alex, I don't know if… your father ever told you the story. When I was younger, Sergeant Bothari had an … incident. He was going to strangle someone. I had to stop him somehow. So I put my hand on his arm, and started pulling. He told me there was no way I could dislodge him. I responded, 'But I can break my fingers trying.' Bothari stood down. That was all it took. Now, I'm sure you and Raina are very close. And I'm sure some part of her knows enough not to hurt you."

It took Alex a minute to release his in-taken breath. His gaze traveled over Miles, hungry, searching. "Miles … You're right. Thank you. I have heard that story, from Father, and from Baz and Elena. Raina and I know all the stories." Alex smiled. "We shall have to tell you about that, later."