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“Has Vordrozda…?”
“No,” Simon replied. He knew what Alys meant without her saying it, “Not as far as I can tell, he doesn’t even seem to have much talent in that direction.”
“That’s something, I suppose,” Alys said. But she almost wished that Gregor’s mind was being tampered with. That, at least, might have been something she could fix. If Vordrozda chose to begin such a war, Alys was well within her rights to finish it. And words had power, didn’t they, even on their own, especially against one so young as Gregor was still. Words, lies , ought not to be allowed to run unchecked, simply because there was nothing more about them, nothing that Galactic science and modern sensibilities couldn’t understand. Alys dearly wished to be able to unleash her wrath. She could tear Vordrozda to pieces if she chose, break him mind and heart and soul, and she dearly, dearly wished to. Aral would be displeased, but Simon might cover for her. But no, no. Gregor was her Emperor, and she could not protect him from himself now he was grown. To do so would be to take for herself power she could not return, to make of herself something she could not unmake.
“You should speak to Gregor,” Simon said.
“I’ve spoken to him already. We all have. He doesn’t listen.”
“You can say to him that there is no conspiracy, that Aral does not want his power, and that you are wholly loyal to the Emperor of Barrayar, and he will know that it is true,” Simon said.
“He will know that I believe that it is true,” Alys countered.
“Yes,” Simon said.
Alys felt herself grow cold.
“So that is it then. I am to prove myself to the Emperor, so that when he has you and the Vorkosigans tried for treason I will not be touched by it? Has it grown so bad as that?”
“I don’t know, my lady,” Simon said, “But I am afraid.”
Afraid, yes, Simon was afraid, she could see it in his eyes. Simon was almost never afraid, not truly, but this was a crisis he was almost as powerless to evade as she was.
“And then what shall I do, when I am left alone in an Imperium governed by Vordrozda’s lies?”
“You shall wait,” Simon said, “And safeguard the Emperor as best you can. And when at last he sees through Vordrozda’s lies and knows what he has done, you shall stand by Gregor’s side and be a comfort and a council to him, granting him your wisdom and your support that he will by then sorely need.”
“What?” Alys said, fury and frustration hot within her, “After I have watched him starve you all in the square?”
“Oh, I won’t starve, my lady,” Simon said lightly, “I’ll just be shot. Unless they decide they want to try and get the information off my chip somehow. Then they might just perform some rather clumsy brain surgery.”
“Captain Illyan.”
Simon turned serious again, his eyes steady on hers. He always looked her in the eyes, unflinchingly. It’s not ignorance, with Simon it’s never ignorance, it’s simply… Simon knew every part of her, he was a keeper of secrets, his eyes wer everywhere, watching, he was a holder of knowledge, shadowed and secure. But when they were alone together he looked her in the eyes. He looked her in the eyes, because he considered them equals, because he willingly put himself in her hands.
When he looked her in the eyes, she found she could not look away.
“You will,” Simon said, and his words were firm and sure, “You will survive, and you will support your Emperor and you will safeguard Barrayar, and you will do all this because you are Vor.”
“You’re right,” Alys admitted, “I will.” And when she said it her words rang with the power of a binding oath, and Simon nodded, satisfied, and she knew he had meant for her to do that to herself, the sly hearted bastard, damn him, damn him.
“Thank you, my lady,” Simon said, and turned to leave her office, his objectives achieved, his goodbyes implied.
“Captain Illyan,” she said, and he paused. There was no blessing she could give him, no protection that she could lay over him, that could protect him from a charge of treason against his Emperor.
“Be careful,” She said. It was not quite a command, because she both could not and would not command him.
He gave her a small, sad smile.
“I’ll try my best, my lady,” he said.