Sun-Tzu and his sister Kali strode out onto the terrace as though they owned it, yet Victor saw Sun-Tzu hold back just enough to give the impression that it was his sister who made the big play for attention. Of Kali Liao, the only good thing Victor could think was that her diminutiveness made him no longer the shortest of the royals. In the backlight from the windows arching onto the terrace, her auburn hair took on a halo of gold, but the expression on her face and the look in her green eyes reminded Victor of her mother's wild unpredictability.

The back of Kali's sleeveless black jumpsuit plunged well below the length of her long hair. Its neckline plunged, too, making a long, tapered vee to the wide belt around her waist, accentuating her small breasts. Though no blemish was visible in the half-light, Victor recalled a file that mentioned a faint scar between her breasts. She claimed it was a result of her initiation into a Thugee cult, during which she had cut her own heart, then put it back again—proving she was loved by her namesake, the Hindu death goddess.

Kali looked around the garden, then stopped when she spotted Cassandra and Kuan Yin.

"I think I'll go over and inquire into the identity of your mystery woman," said Kai. "If you will excuse me."

"Excellent idea."

As Kai headed out toward the quartet that included his sisters, Isis Marik suddenly emerged from the ballroom and slipped her right arm through the crook of Kai's left elbow. Clad in yet another paramilitary blue outfit—this time without the cap—she and Kai looked like a proper military couple until she spoke. Her voice carrying across the terrace and possibly even back into the ballroom, Isis Marik exclaimed, "Finally! I have been looking all over for the heir to the Capellan Confederation."

Sun-Tzu stiffened sharply. "I am afraid, GospodjicaMarik, that you are mistaken." He moved to block their line of march and folded his arms across the breast of his golden tunic. "If you seek the heir to the Universal Throne, I am he."

With a look of bewilderment, Isis let her arm slip free of Kai's and stepped between the two cousins. She cocked her head quizzically at Kai. "Is not the eldest child of Maximilian Liao's eldest daughter the rightful heir to the throne?"

Sun-Tzu's eyes became like jade slivers as contempt contorted his features. "The only throne to which Kai Allard has a claim is that of the Federated Commonwealth. But that is only as a lapdog to a Davion, as the Allards have ever been."

Sun-Tzu's remark stung Victor, but he held his ground as Kai forced himself to laugh. "Service to the House of Davion is an honor. Service to the Capellan throne is dancing on the edge of a sword blade."

"Ah, but cousin, to paraphrase Milton, 'tis better to reign in Hell than to serve the court of the butcher of the Successor States. How does it feel, Kai, to know you have ordered men to die to preserve the realm of the greatest aggressor the Inner Sphere has ever known? Hanse Davion murdered 100 million people and left another half-billion casualties in the Fourth Succession War alone! And if that were not enough for him, ten years later he went to war again."

Sun-Tzu saw that his barb about Kai ordering the deaths of his men had hit home. He thrust a finger at the Diamond Sunburst ribbon on Kai's chest. "You go to war and drive men to their deaths, but you reap medals and rewards! Were you the heir, to the Universal Throne, what could my people look forward to except the butchery of their young men and women as you concocted some new military crusade to sate your thirst for blood? The Capellan Confederation has not been the aggressor. We were not in 3028, when the Federated Suns launched their attack against us, and we were not in 3030, when Andurien violated our borders."

Sun-Tzu's voice lashed Kai with its ridicule. "And the most perverse of all is that you earned that medal by treachery. You lured honorable Clan warriors into a deathtrap with the promise of single combat. No matter how expedient it might have been, the deed reveals the moral rot in your soul."

Victor saw the mask descend over Kai's face and knew his friend would not reply. That bastard's aim is true. Give Kai half a chance and he'll always doubt himself.Victor started forward to rescue his friend, but the situation changed before he could intervene.

Kali had started to drift over like a vulture to pick further at Kai, but Kuan Yin reached out and lightly touched Kali on the arm. Victor would have sworn that Kuan Yin's fingertips merely brushed Kali's flesh, but Romano's daughter jumped back as though she'd been lashed with a neural whip. Kali's eyes flashed and her hands knotted into fists, but Kuan Yin's unwavering hazel-eyed stare cowed her cousin and held her at bay.

At that moment, the lovely young Kurita woman stepped forward. "Forgive me for interrupting, gentlemen." The softness of her voice was soothing. "Perhaps it is not my place, but the intensity of this discussion has become so painful that I would ask, please, that you postpone it until another time."

"Sumimasen. Shitsurei shimash'ta."Kai gave her a respectful bow. "I have been most rude. Please forgive me." He straightened up, then turned and walked into the ballroom, leaving the field of battle to Sun-Tzu. The heir to the Capellan Confederation gave the young woman a polite nod, then let Isis Marik steer him out into the shadows of the garden surrounding the terrace.

Victor suddenly found himself face to face with the Kurita woman. The blue of her eyes was a startling contrast to the black hair that shimmered down her back. The delicate beauty of her features put Victor in mind of ancient Japanese woodcuts showing women as perfect as they were serene.

Though she stood almost twelve centimeters taller, the smile on her face did not mock his size.

"Thank you for stepping in to stop that fight." Victor shot a glance back to where he had been standing. "I was going to do something myself, but you beat me to it. And," he added with a sheepish grin, "you certainly did it more gracefully than I could have managed."

"I saw that you intended to help your friend." She hesitated, as though seeking for more precision in her English. "My fear was that you would accept the role as aggressor in the fight. My solution was to make both of them the aggressor. That way, they had to stop or else be branded my torturer. Your friend Kai has courage and strength in him, as well as manners. Sun-Tzu has cunning and strength. I do not think the resumption of this conflict will be pretty."

"Your assessment of Kai is quite accurate. I fear that your reading of his cousin is equally so. If they fight again, I will try to remember your solution to the situation." Victor smiled and gave her a half-bow. "By the way, I am ..."

She laughed lightly. "I know quite well who you are, Victor Ian Steiner-Davion, Crown Prince of the Federated Commonwealth, Duke of the Sarna March, Kommandant of the Tenth Lyran Guards."

Victor decided immediately he liked the sound of her laughter. "I am afraid you have me at a disadvantage."

"I am simply Omi."

Omi. The name is familiar. I should know it from somewhere.Victor took her hand and kissed it lightly. "I am most pleased to make your acquaintance, Omi. I would try that in Japanese, but I am afraid languages were never my forte."

"Do itashimash'ta.The Nagelring's reputation for languages is not such that you are dishonored by not having mastered a difficult tongue."

Victor allowed himself a frown. "You seem to know a great deal about me, yet I know nothing about you. If you wish, we could remedy that in a pleasant walk through the garden."