Work Text:
Ezar would have told Piotr not to marry Aral off just yet, and especially not to that girl, except Piotr Vorkosigan always did whatever he fucking well pleased. And it had pleased him to wed his only son and heir to the daughter of his cousin. Not that Ezar had the moral high ground when it came to marrying kin - he had also wed a not-distant-enough cousin. The sister of his deposed and deceased rival, Yuri, to boot. Not quite as inappropriate as the sister of one's former male lover, if more traditional.
And Ezar understood the desperate need to continue one's lineage. Intimately.
But Piotr must be far too certain of his vaunted tactical genius if he believed this union was the best way to extricate Aral from the hold Ges Vorrutyer had had on the boy for years.
Ezar would have told Piotr that it was a terrible idea to let the new bride live alone in the couple's town apartment while her new husband was away for months. It would be unreasonable to expect Aral to forgo ship duty, duty he had earned by dint of graduating top of his class at the new Imperial Service Academy. But at the very least, the girl should have been at Vorkosigan House, under her father-in-law's watchful eye while Aral was off trying to build his career.
Ezar would have told them it was all going to end in blood and tears. Both men indulged the girl outrageously, showering her with every comfort, letting her venture out into the Vorbarr Sultana social scene accompanied only by her brother, if she was chaperoned at all. But, really, not even ImpSec's best could have predicted the absolute shit show this ill-conceived connection was going to come to.
Nevertheless, Ezar was not entirely unhappy when Piotr had to come to him for aid. Even if it was at the expense of two men's lives.
"Where is the boy now?" he asked Captain Negri.
"On his ship."
"Perfect. I'll make sure he stays there while you do what needs to be done here." He waved a hand of dismissal. His Familiar would see to everything.
He turned back to Count Vorkosigan.
"The boy will be covered for, kept from any foreseeable repercussions. But I will expect certain... returns on my investment.
"Yes, Sire," the Count growled, the words forced past gritted teeth. "Thank you, Sire."
It wouldn't humble Piotr for long, of course; If Ezar Vorbarra knew anything about his former mentor, it was that Piotr's pride never failed him. But it would perhaps go a long way toward balancing the scales of what the Emperor of Barrayar owed the Kingmaker.
Or so he hoped.
"And the girl?" he asked almost as an afterthought.
Piotr's face went, if possible, even more grim. "I'll see to her."
Ezar didn't much like that look in his old friend's eyes. He would have told Piotr he shouldn't do anything rash. Except you can't tell Piotr Vorkosigan anything.