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It all happened so fast. One minute, Lady Alys was walking through the Residence gardens, the next, she was flat on her face in the shrubbery with a heavy weight across her back. Her ears were ringing from the explosion and she had smoke and dirt in her nose, but all she could think of was that her hair was going to be a mess, full of twigs and leaves. She tried to move, to smooth it back, but the weight on her back held her down, and a stern male voice said in her ear, "Stay flat!"
She'd barely been aware of the junior ImpSec officer hurrying in the opposite direction, before. Now he held her down, covering her. There was a long silence, and then she felt him move. A nerve disruptor crackled, a sound she heard in her nightmares each night, and she didn't need the ImpSec officer's weight to make her huddle deeper into the shrubbery. But he was the one shooting. Another crackle, then silence. Then she heard the tinny sound of a comlink, words inaudible, buzzing like a fly trapped in a glass. The ImpSec officer spoke. "Yes. Good. Thank God. No, I've got her. She's safe. Yes. All right, hold your positions."
Alys risked raising her head, and the ImpSec officer didn't shove her back this time. There was a crater in the lawn, just outside the window of Gregor's schoolroom, but the building was undamaged.
"What happened?" she managed. Her voice was shaking. She forced it to steady, turning to look at the officer. He wore commander's tabs, but his face was unfamiliar. There was blood running down his head and he was filthy. She looked down at herself and saw she was almost as bad. She began to brush at her dress, then decided it was pointless. "You're bleeding," she said.
"Just a scratch," he said vaguely, wiping ineffectually at the blood, smearing it with earth and dust through his hair and over his forehead. It did nothing for his looks. "A bomb. I believe--" he wiped his bloody hands on his trousers, "--it was another rogue faction within ImpSec." He looked at her, then scanned the area. "Stay here a minute."
She watched, half-sitting up in the shrubs, as he walked around the area, speaking into his comlink again. Disloyalty in ImpSec, again. Since Captain Negri had been killed, ImpSec had only been half-reliable, his successor unable to keep full control of the chaotic and secretive organisation. Most of the men were loyal, most of the time, but Alys knew why Aral and Cordelia insisted on having Vorkosigan armsmen guarding them and Gregor. She watched her officer. Evidently he, at least, was loyal. He bent over a body--was that the man he'd been shooting at?--and examined it, then paced around in all directions before returning to her. "All clear here. I'll escort you inside."
"Is everyone all right? Gregor?"
"Nobody was hurt. Except the culprit." He bent to help her up. "My men are with the household now," he said. "They're all trustworthy, at least." At Alys's perplexed look, he said, "I command the night guard on the Residence. I was just coming in for the handover."
Alys found she was still shaking badly, and the officer gave her his arm to lean on. He was courteous, too, she thought. Pulling herself together, she located a handkerchief, miraculously clean inside a pocket, and wiped at the blood still running from his head. More than a scratch, she thought. "To whom do I owe my rescue?"
He blinked at her a little dizzily, and she repeated, "What's your name?"
"Oh. Commander Illyan, at your service, milady."
"I'm very grateful to you." She mustered a smile, and he smiled back, looking like a puppy about to be taken out for a walk. He couldn't be much older than she was, she thought suddenly. She kept hold of his arm as he led her towards the nearest entrance.
The puppyish look faded as they were met at the door by half a dozen more ImpSec guards, and Commander Illyan gave a series of quick orders and listened to reports. Alys observed thoughtfully. He did know his stuff.
"I'll give you one of my men to escort you to the Regent's suite, milady," Commander Illyan said.
"No," Alys said. "Come yourself. I think Aral will want to talk to you." Aral badly needed competent ImpSec men, and Alys liked the look of this one. Besides, she wasn't sure she wanted to let him out of her sight yet. She smiled again, winningly, and saw his own smile creep back, a bare hint about his eyes and lips. He sent his men about their duties, then turned back to her.
"I was only doing my job, milady," he began in protest.
"And doing it well," she retorted. "Come with me, Commander. The Lord Regent needs men like you."
Helplessly, he obeyed. Alys took his arm again, though she no longer needed the support. She didn't plan to let this one get away.