Alex met them at the gate of the cemetery. "Good morning, my lords. Your Majesty."

Raina's chin jerked up at the sound of her title, color rising on her cheeks and neck. Alex regarded her coolly. 'It's still not right between them,' Miles observed.

"Madame Vorsoisson wishes to go riding before breakfast. She sent me to fetch you," Alex said to Miles.

"Ah, I think I shall opt out of this one," said Count Vorkosigan. "Enjoy yourselves." At a gesture, Pym took the knapsack from Raina and followed him back to the house. The Armsman glanced back doubtfully, as he reported in to the ImpSec agents via comm link.

They met Felice by the pasture fence, the horses trailing after her handful of sugar cubes.

She stroked one of the three-year-olds. "Alas, this is but a pale shadow of the stables in Piotr's time." She kissed the horse on its wet nose, and it whinnied in reply. "Hello there, Mikah," she cooed. "You don't know me yet. You're Melina and Minerva's sire, oh yes."

"Felice here revived the breeding program," said Alex. "Dressage, show, thoroughbreds, even a few draft horses. Some say it's better than Piotr's time."

Felice beamed at Alex. "Oh, stop. It's just a hobby. Now, the winery is the real task. Some years we can't keep pace with the orders."

"Do you have a day job?" asked Miles, smiling. Seeing her off-guard like this, he began to get the picture of a cheerful tomboy, the sheltered youngest child. Who probably worshiped her big brother and sister, the mercenaries.

"No, not really. They pay me to design ships, then field test them. It's a great scam."

"Father and I rely on Cora and Felice far too much, in terms of District matters," said Alex to Miles. "Cora's set up quite a medical and communications network through the mountains. And she'll have her hands full once Vorkosigan Vashnoi opens up again. Uncle Mark has a lot of plans. We're waiting to see what Father will agree to."

Miles's eyes widened. Radioactive farmland no more! His mouth snapped shut as he spotted Ekaterin and Cora with the saddles. Madame Vorsoisson looked quite energized; it warmed Miles's heart to see her smile again, after the confusion of the past few days.

Each of them padded and saddled their own horses. Miles caught Ekaterin watching amused as he tapped Fat Ninny to get him to kneel. The sun was beginning to cut through the chill. Bird calls and distant village sounds further brightened the morning. Sebastian seemed very far away.

They were just pulling out of the gate when a beeper went off.

"Damn, that's me," said Cora. "I'll see you all later. It was good to talk to you, Ekaterin." She took out a small device which Miles now recognized as the temporal transceiver. They could hear her as she led the horse back. "Stefan, are you awake? Too bad. It's time for the morning feeding… I know Isabel's only gone for a day, but I'll be damned if my only grandchild misses breakfast…"

And Cora must be Mama Vorkosigan, thought Miles.

Raina grinned. "You two go ahead," she said to Miles and Ekaterin. "I see our ImpSec backup. We can work the perimeter out of earshot."

Miles put several meters between them and the others before speaking. He told Ekaterin about Raina's strange dawn offering. "So, milady, I hope you fared better than I this morning. You and Cora seem to get along quite well."

Ekaterin was silent for a moment. "I'm not sure I can top your story. But it's close." She looked over her shoulder before going on.

"It was very early in the morning. I couldn't sleep, so I took a walk around the house. I told the ImpSec people I wanted to be left alone, and they did just that. So it scared the wits out of me when Alex appeared out of nowhere.

"He looked peculiar, now that I recall. I think he was wearing the same dress greens from last night. He was little winded, too, as though he'd gone for a run.

"I greeted him: 'My lord.' And he said, 'I'm not your lord, Ekaterin. We're not just your offspring. Best to approach us with caution, because we may not be good for you.' His tone of voice was quite frightening, there in the dark.

"Suddenly he started telling me about his childhood. Their childhood, his and Raina's. He said they hadn't been close with their parents. That his parents had been so horrified by the two of them. We-- they had to stop all kinds of monstrous things during the day, and then deal with their night terrors. It wore on them. There had even been speculation, early on, as to whether or not Alex ought to be the next Lord Vorkosigan."

"We would never do that," burst out Miles. Fat Ninny whickered.

Ekaterin shook her head. "That's what I told him. He said I had no idea how it touched on his father's pride to have normal children." She looked at Miles. Testing? Oh yes, she has every right to test.

He said, "I… I do want normal children. But having survived my own childhood, I can't believe I would ever treat any child of mine that way." Compelled, Miles glanced back at the twins and Felice, who were covering a wide semi-circle behind them.

She continued. "After the genetic tests came in… Their mother didn't want to go through it again, even though they could screen for the mutation. On the other hand, their father wanted to redeem them, somehow, with more--- I'm sorry, I shouldn't have mentioned that."

"That's all right. Go on. What else did he tell you?"

"…How they'd hated Cora, when she arrived. Threatened her, made her life miserable. From an early age she'd had to defend herself, and Felice." Ekaterin shuddered. "He said: 'Make no mistake, we are walking nightmares.' Not an apology, just a statement of fact. It was important to him that I understand that, because his parents had recognized that, and been pushed to their limits.

"But at the same time, he didn't want me to think of them," she gestured at the twins, "as my children, nor blame myself for… what they became. What they are.

"Then he said something I'll never forget. It's been running through my mind all morning..." Her voice fell to a whisper. " 'From our mother we learned to steel ourselves against the pain. From our father we learned to be true to ourselves no matter what. From Barrayar we learned that cruelty without honor was for the beasts in the field and not for a Vorkosigan. We would not have survived, as we are now, if not for that.' "

Miles blew out his breath. So, honor is the one clean thing for them? Small wonder that they nearly destroy themselves trying to preserve it.

"I don't think he was drunk, but he certainly acted that way. Then by some prescience Cora came in, and rescued me. They had an argument, I think, and then he returned and apologized profusely." Ekaterin fell silent.

"Are you all right?" asked Miles.

She looked up. Her brown eyes glittered with moisture. "It's odd, everything he told me was exactly what I needed to hear. I didn't know for so long, if I could accept them, as my future children. He gave me permission not to try."

Miles nodded. They are their own people. "We should start back. It's time for breakfast."

After a quick shower and shave, Miles dressed, and headed for the front dining room. The smell of Ma Kosti's latest creation was wafting through the house. Passing the cracked-open door of a study, he heard voices within. He knocked, and the door swung open all the way.

Countess Vorkosigan looked up at his entrance. She was sitting up in a cushioned divan, her expression grim. Cora stood before her.

"Should we be concerned?" the Countess said to Cora, before Miles could apologize.

Cora glanced sideways at Miles. "No, there's no danger."

"But?" The Countess prompted.

Cora shifted from foot to foot, like a bridge suddenly swaying in a gale. Her eyes darted towards Miles, looking hemmed in. Then she met Cordelia's gaze. She picked her words carefully.

"Those two are the most Barrayaran people I've ever met."

The Countess nodded, lips thinning.

Miles stopped backing out the door. 'Those two'? Cora was undoubtedly referring to Raina and Alex. But neither she nor his mother wanted him to hear it. It occurred to him that they were nearly age-mates, and had been talking as one Vor matron to another. Unnerving. He looked inquiringly at Cordelia.

The Countess seemed about to say something. Instead she dismissed Cora, who curtseyed her way out.

"What did she mean by that?" asked Miles, when Cora had gone.

"Miles," said Cordelia sharply, "It's none of your business."

His mind reeled at that. "Mother, I am not a teenager anymore!" God, what an asinine thing to say.

Cordelia regarded him sadly. "No. No, you're not. I'm sorry. But you're the only one here who's never had children."

Miles bit his lip. "It makes that much of a difference, does it."

His mother looked in his direction, but not at him. Miles wished he knew at what, or when. "Yes, love, it makes all the difference in the world. Be patient. You'll have your turn."