Skolian Empire: The Radiant Seas Part 40

Quaelen frowned. "And what of the risk in his silence?"

Viquara considered her son. Was he actually resisting the truth serum or did he really have nothing to tell them? "Sauscony Valdoria was an Imperial Messenger once, wasn't she?"

"I've no idea," Jaibriol said.

Quaelen spoke. "How much training did she give you in techniques to resist interrogation?"

"I don't know what you're talking about," Jaibriol said.

Viquara tried another tack. "Tell me about your father."

"What do you want to know?" Jaibriol asked.

"What was his name?"

"Ur Qox."

"How did you feel about him?"

His voice became strained again. "I loved him."

Viquara wondered at his reaction. Could a slave truly be capable of familial affection? "Why?"

Bitterness edged his voice. "I don't know." After a moment he added, "I suppose he loved me, in his own way."

"Could you pick that up from his mind?"

"Yes."

Viquara s.h.i.+fted in her chair, aware of Quaelen. Although they both knew the Jaibriol was a psion, it disconcerted her to hear the emperor verify it. Still, it provided a means to test how well the serum was working.

"What was your father's Kyle rating?" she asked.

Jaibriol's forehead furrowed. "What?"

"The emperor's Kyle rating. What was it?"

"Zero," Jaibriol said.

"Are you sure?"

"How could he be a psion?" Jaibriol asked. "You have to get the genes from both parents. Hightons don't have them."

Quaelen considered him. "And both Ur Qox's parents were Hightons?"

A bead of sweat rolled down Jaibriol's temple. "No."

G.o.ds of all heaven, Viquara thought. She looked at Quaelen and he stared back at her, his face mirroring her reaction. With one word, Jaibriol had just shattered a century of deception. That she and Quaelen already shared the unspoken secret did nothing to lessen the shock of hearing it.

Quaelen turned back to Jaibriol. "Which of his parents wasn't Highton?"

"His mother."

"I see." Quaelen waited, then suddenly said, "How many children do you have?"

"None," he whispered.

Viquara spoke gently. "Jaibriol, dear, you can tell us the truth. We won't hurt you."

"I don't believe you," he said.

"How long were you an ISC prisoner?" Quaelen asked.

"Eleven days," Jaibriol said.

"Where did they keep you?"

"An installation in the desert. I don't know its name."

"How much did you see of it?"

"My cell. The interrogation rooms. Several corridors."

"Kryx, wait," Viquara said. When he glanced at her, she said, "Jaibriol's mind is conditioned and he has a cyberlock in his brain. It's similar to the conditioning Althor Valdoria has to prevent him from breaking under interrogation."

Quaelen nodded. "A logical precaution."

"It's more than that," Viquara said. "He shouldn't have been able to reveal Ur to us."

Quaelen raised his eyebrows. Focusing on Jaibriol again, he asked, "How did you alter your conditioning so you could reveal your father?"

"I didn't."

"Then who did?" Viquara asked.

"No one."

"It was Sauscony Valdoria, wasn't it?" Quaelen asked.

"I told you she wasn't my mistress."

"Where did that boy on Prism come from?"

"He was the son of a hostage I took during my escape."

"What was her name?"

"Lyra Merzon."

"Maximilian," Quaelen said.

The emperor's computer answered. "Attending."

"Identify 'Lyra Merzon.' Search Skolian databases."

After a pause, Maximilian said, "I have fifty-two matches."

"Do any correspond to a woman who disappeared at the same time as Jaibriol Qox escaped from ISC?"

"Yes," Maximilian said. "Lyra Merzon was an ISC medic. On the night Jaibriol Qox escaped, she was at the palace. She is listed as killed with Qox and Valdoria."

"Neither of whom seem to be dead," Viquara murmured.

"Perhaps we're asking our questions the wrong way." Quaelen leaned his elbow on the arm of his chair and rubbed his chin, regarding Jaibriol. "Why can you tell me devastating information about your father when it should be locked in your brain?"

"Because you already know it," Jaibriol said.

Viquara tensed. "Why do you think he knows it?"

"He told me," Jaibriol said. "Seventeen years ago."

Quaelen spoke smoothly. "Apparently you misunderstood, Your Highness. At no time did I ever make such a comment, nor would I ever have insulted your esteemed father's name in such a manner."

Viquara looked from Quaelen to Jaibriol. "Why did you think he told you?" she asked her son.

"As a threat." A muscle twitched in Jaibriol's cheek. "To keep me from telling anyone about his methods of tutelage."

Viquara's anger simmered like coals. Glancing at Quaelen, she said, "And what would these methods be?"

He regarded her steadily. "Whatever I felt necessary."

She turned back to Jaibriol. "Did Minister Quaelen ever use force against you?"

"Yes."

"What kind of force?"

"Enough, Wife." Quaelen motioned to the medics. "Knock him out."

"No," Viquara said.

She discovered then just how well Quaelen had infiltrated her security. The gold medic ignored her command and jabbed its needle into Jaibriol's arm. As the emperor gasped, Quaelen leaned forward, intent on his prisoner.

Viquara's anger surged. She stood up and spoke in an icy voice. "I think we should leave His Highness to rest."

Quaelen glanced at her, his face inscrutable. "If you wish."

As they left the library, she looked back. Jaibriol had sagged in his chair, unconscious now, guarded by the medics, his lowered lashes dark on his skin, like bruises.

She didn't speak until they were in Quaelen's office. Then she turned on him. "How dare you misuse the Highton Heir."

"Misuse?" He spoke in a mild voice. "I am surprised you let the histrionics of a provider cloud your judgment. It is unlike you."

Viquara took a breath to steady herself. Her husband might have the ultimate blackmail with what he knew about her son, but Quaelen also had a great deal to lose now. He was so close to the Carnelian Throne, he was almost emperor himself.

"I am surprised," she said, "that you would risk the position you worked with such diligence to attain."

He leaned against the doorjamb and crossed his arms. "Risk is relative, my lovely wife."

"Have you ever noticed," she commented, "that the loss of power to one person often results in losses to their a.s.sociates?"

He watched her with shadowed eyes. "Perhaps."

"On the other hand, I've heard it said support inspires reciprocal support."

"So have I heard."

Viquara waited, hoping she hadn't pushed him too far.

Finally Quaelen said, "It pleases me that we have such compatible ideas."

Although relief trickled over her, she didn't let herself relax. Not yet. "Particularly in regards to the well-being of my son."

"Your son?"

"The emperor."

"I would of course always wish for our esteemed emperor's well-being."

Viquara's tension eased. "It pleases me to hear that."

Quaelen nodded. "Then we are in accord."

After an appropriate pause, she said, "What did you think of our conversation with him?"

"Half-truths?" Quaelen shook his head. "Lies?"

"I doubt he could lie under that strong a dosage. Certainly not with the ease he denied Sauscony Valdoria was his mistress."

"Perhaps. But she was a Jagernaut and ISC has its ways." He came over to her. "Vitrex tells me Prince Althor's mind is erasing itself."

"At least they're finally getting information out of him."

"He won't be much use to us with no mind."

Viquara shrugged. "Izar just plans to breed him with Cirrus when they're done interrogating him." She intended to take Althor as her provider then, also, but she was willing to work out an arrangement with Vitrex. "Althor and Cirrus are top-quality. They will produce top-of-the-line providers."

"You and Izar think too small," Quaelen said.