Heirs of Empire

“I know.” His voice was equally quiet, and then he shook himself. “Isis?”

” ’Ta

“Yes.” Colin looked down at his hands—the hands Galahad didn’t have—and felt the decision make itself. He rose and tugged on his nose, thinking hard. “How many are we talking about here, ’Ha

“Ten. These four and two smaller litters.”

“Okay.” He turned back to Galahad and his siblings. “Listen to me, all of you. I know you don’t understand why humans should be afraid of you, but do all of you accept that they might be?” Four canine heads nodded in unmistakable assent, and he chuckled despite his solemnity. “Good, because the only way we could keep you really safe would be for us to keep the humans you might scare from finding out you exist, and we can’t do that forever.

“So here’s what I’m going to do. From now on, you four will live with us—with ’Ta

“Yes, Colin-human.” It wasn’t Galahad, but a smaller female who spoke, and her dignified mien vanished abruptly. She leapt up on him, wagging her tail and slurping his face enthusiastically, then tore around the room barking madly. She skidded to a halt, tongue lolling, dumped herself untidily on the carpet, rolled on her back, and waved all four feet in the air. Then she rolled back over and sat upright once more, eyes laughing at him.

“All right!” He wiped his face and gri

“If we prove we are not evil, people will not fear us?” Galahad asked.

“Exactly. It’s not fair—you shouldn’t have to prove it any more than they should—but that’s how it has to be. Can you do that?”

“We can, Colin-human,” Galahad said softly.

Chapter Four

Fleet Admiral the Lady Adrie

Fortunately for the admiral, the long-haired girl leading the charge saw her, and they hit the brakes as only children can, skittering to a halt in a tangled confusion of arms, legs, feet, hooves, and paws.

“Hi, Aunt Adrie

“I wonder,” the admiral said darkly, “how Their Imperial Majesties would react to the way you young hellions came tearing down on me?”

“Oh, Dad wouldn’t mind.” Sean gri

“I was thinking more of Her Imperial Majesty,” Adrie

“Because you wouldn’t want us on your conscience?” he suggested, and she swallowed a laugh and frowned.

“My conscience is pretty resilient, Your Highness.”

“Uh, do you have to mention this to Mom and Dad?” Harriet asked, and Adrie

“Not this time, I suppose. But—” she held up an admonishing finger as relieved smiles blossomed “—I won’t be so gooey-centered next time!”

An earnest chorus of thanks answered her, and she made shooing motions with her hands.

“Then get, you horrible brats!” she commanded, and the cavalcade leapt back into motion (albeit less impetuously than before) down the hall.

Adrie

Harriet, on the other hand, was a junior edition of her mother—a pretty child who was going to be an astoundingly beautiful woman. Both twins had Jiltanith’s eyes, but Harriet’s were softer. No less lively, but gentler. Actually, Adrie

She emerged from her reverie as she reached her destination, and the door slid open to admit her to Colin’s office. The Emperor looked up from his paperwork and waved at a chair.

“Have a seat, Adrie

Admiral Robbins sat, smoothing her uniform sleeve fastidiously, and waited patiently for Colin to finish the current installment of his unending paper chase. He dumped the data—and his decision—back into the computer, then leaned back and crossed his legs.

“I see you evaded the thundering herd,” he observed, and she glanced at him in surprise. “I’ve got surveillance systems in the public corridors, remember? ‘Young hellions’ is exactly right!”

“Oh, they’re not that bad. Lively, mind you, but I don’t mind.”

“Nobody does. Well, nobody but ’Ta

“That’s the way empires are run, Your Majesty. ‘I say unto one go, and he goeth’ and all that. But I have to admit you piqued my curiosity. What’s so sensitive we couldn’t discuss it over the com?”

“I’m probably just being paranoid,” Colin said more seriously, “but those anti-Narhani demonstrations are getting worse, not better, so I didn’t want to take any chance on this leaking. What I’ve got in mind is either going to make them a lot better … or a hell of a lot worse.”

“I hate it when you get enigmatic, Colin,” Adrie

“Sorry. It’s just that I beat my head against this for months before I made up my mind, and I’m pissed at myself for taking so long to do what I should’ve done in the first place. I’m opening the Academy to Narhani.”

“Oh, Lord!” Adrie

“Oh, come on!” Colin chuckled. “The first-generation clones won’t be ready until Sean and Harry are—you’ve got time for the spade work.”

” ‘Spade work,’ he says! Bulldozer work, you mean! Fortunately,” she smiled rather smugly, “I figured out this was coming over a year ago. We’ve been working on syllabus modification ever since.”