"Yes." Theodore looked a bit uncomfortable. "And if your wife is the least bit like mine, she will make you pay dearly if we interfere in this budding relationship."

Hanse sighed heavily. "I'd rather spend a day with Romano Liao than a minute with Melissa if she were to get wind that I'd done something to cause a break between Victor and Omi. If Victor is happy, so is she."

"But we both agree that it would be a disaster if they fell in love. We could never allow their union to be consummated or legitimized."

"Absolutely not!" Hanse massaged his forehead with his left hand. "The Draconis March would figure it was Victor's brideprice gift to you, and the religious nightmares of such a wedding would be the death of me."

"There is a silver lining to the idea," Kai offered. Hanse and Theodore looked at him with surprise. "Considering what happened at the last big state wedding, at least you know Romano Liao wouldn't show up."

Hanse and Theodore looked at one another, then broke out laughing. Justin chuckled, too, but shook his head reprovingly at his son. Kai waited for the laughter to die. "I am not trying to speak for Victor," he said, "but I know him pretty well. I can assure you, Kanrei, that he has nothing but the utmost respect for Omi. Given half a chance, I know he could fall for her, but it isn't a very realistic possibility. The two of them getting together would certainly strengthen the united front we want to present the Clans, but I would agree that such a union would prove internally divisive. The point is, they're not going to have any more time together after we all leave this planet. They'll probably exchange holodisks and personal confidences if you'll allow it, but I think both are more than aware of the futility of their situation."

Hanse weighed Kai's words carefully. "You're saying that they have chosen not to let the hopelessness of their situation spoil their friendship here?"

"That's what I think. When are they ever likely to meet i one another again face to face?"

Theodore shook his head. "In all likelihood, never." He looked at Hanse. "I am not adverse to allowing our children to continue their acquaintance. Shall we allow them to correspond?"

"Knowing how it feels to get any mail at all at the front, I would be most pleased if Omi wished to communicate with my son. I see no difficulty with that." Hanse paused, again seeming to gaze into some other time, either distant past or future. "Ah, Theodore," he said finally, "can you imagine, a Davion-Kurita wedding?"

"It would be a Kurita-Davion wedding, Prince Davion," Theodore laughed. "Your Draconis March would secede and my father would have me assassinated." His smile turned rueful. "But who knows, if the Clans do us enough damage, we might just have to let fate play its part and let our children pick up the pieces."

25

Wolf's Dragoons General Headquarters, Outreach

Sarna March, Federated Commonwealth

23 September 3051

Victor Davion smiled broadly to see her slipping into the night-shrouded garden. "Komban-wa,Omiko- san."

"Arigato gozaimas,Victor-san." She lowered her eyes and bowed to him. "Your Japanese has so improved."

"I've had an excellent teacher and more than enough motivation to study hard." She started to blush and look away, but he reached out and gently took her chin in his right hand. "I say that not to flatter you, but because it is true."

She took his hand in hers and kissed the palm. "I have had a most willing student." Omi looked up abruptly as a distant roar intruded on the stillness of the garden, overpowering the whirring of crickets. Then the night sky lit up as a bulbous metal form rose slowly on a brilliant torch. The DropShip's flame burnished golden highlights onto Omi's smooth skin and hair.

"The only way I could come to the garden unescorted was because my ISF chaperone believes you are aboard that ship. Until I got your note, I thought we would have no chance to say goodbye." She looked at Victor warily. "From your father, you have inherited the cunning of the Fox, and from your cousin Morgan, you inherit the courage of the Lion.

Won't there be trouble when they find you are not onboard the ship?"

Victor shook his head. "No. Kai convinced the pilot that he and I had to attend a last-minute briefing. He's off saying goodbye to his family and I am here with you. We'll take a shuttle up and reach the ship in a half a day."

"How fortunate to have such a resourceful friend."

"He's not the only friend I'm lucky to have." Victor sighed heavily. "I suppose your father spoke to you about us, as my father did with me?"

She nodded solemnly, and Victor was glad she had let her black hair hang down over the shoulders of her green silken kimono. "My father tried to be most reasonable. He told me we might communicate with one another, but I suspect he gave in on that point because he knew he could not stop us. He seems terrified that you and I would fall in love."

Victor grinned unabashedly. "That's roughly the same read I got from my father. Kai says they joked about a romance and possible marriage between us. But he also said that despite their dread of the political problems, it seemed that either one would cut off his own arm before causing his child unhappiness."

Omi's eyes half-shut. "So, Victor Davion, are we falling in love?"

Victor started to speak, then clamped his mouth shut. Omi intrigued him more than any woman ever had and he also found her immeasurably desirable. But is this love, or am I infatuated because I can never have her?He looked down. "Omi-san,"he teased, "perhaps I'll be the last to know."

He brought his eyes up to meet hers. "I do care for you, very deeply. Part of me wants to say I love you, but I don't know if I have the strength to shoulder all that would imply. I'm also afraid that if I said yes, and we were to become lovers, I would lose you as a friend."

Omi smiled tenderly at that. "Your confusion mirrors mine. I know that part of your allure is a fascination with the forbidden. But you also have great heart and a quick mind. You are not afraid to say what you think and you do not suffer fools who seek you out because of your title. These qualities I rarely see beyond my family in the Draconis Combine, and that is why I think I could be very happy with you as either friend or lover.

"But, as you say, to fall in love would also present us with a whole host of problems."

"Your grandfather would refuse to come to the wedding and mine would be spinning in his grave! Ryan Steiner would accuse me of selling Skye to the Combine and the Draconis March would try to join with Free Rasalhague so I'd not cede half of it to your father."

Her laughter buoyed Victor's spirits. It was so easy to be with her and talk to her in a way that would shock others who would take these matters oh-so-seriously. In public, he could start a war by saying that he thought Sun-Tzu Liao was an ass, but with Omi he risked no such interstellar incident. And if not for her, he'd never have come even close to beginning to understand Hohiro.

Omi coiled a lock of dark hair around her finger. "Any pregnancy would have to produce twins and we would have to say they were both born at the same time or risk a war over which child was heir to which throne. It would be a nightmare."