The Final Key: Part Two of Triad by Catherine Asaro

take it away. No. He was strong enough to deal with this on his own. He would manage. Somehow.
    To Etude, he said only, "I'm lonely." It was easier to admit that to an EI than to a living person.
    "I may be able to help," it said.
    "Really?" Eldrin doubted it, but he thought it charming the EI offered assistance. "How?"
    "Imperator Skolia is en route to the palace. He should be landing here soon."
    "Kurj is coming home?"
    "It appears so. Will that help your loneliness?"
    "Yes, actually, it will." Kurj had been staying down in the city, in the skyscraper where he had his office, in daily strategy sessions with his top officers. Eldrin hadn't expected to see him at the palace at all.
    "When will he arrive?" Eldrin asked.
    "Within the hour," Etude said.
    "I'm glad." He finished his whiskey, savoring the haze of
    warmth it created. But he poured no more. Perhaps Etude was right, he depended on it too much. He made a resolution: he would stop the alcohol and phorine both.
    He would manage.
    Somehow.
    5
    The My Palace
    They're claiming the attack came from pirates," Kurj said. "Rogue marauders." Even in the spacious living room where he and Eldrin had retired, he looked huge. He sat on a brocaded couch, his booted legs stretched across the gold carpet, creasing the pile. His hands were folded around a steaming mug of kava laced with rum.
    Eldrin sat across from him in an armchair, one with those annoying cushions that kept trying to make him relax. He was glad to see Kurj, but his brother's news disquieted him. "The emperor claims the ships that attacked Onyx acted without authorization?" "It seems so." Sarcasm saturated Kurj's voice. The steam from Eldrin's drink wafted over his face. He didn't take a swallow. The kava had rum in it and he meant to keep his pledge. No more alcohol. It would be mortifying to tell Kurj why he had made such a resolution, though, so he kept holding the mug.
    "It's absurd," Eldrin said. "First they expect us to believe a hard-line emperor with years of experience didn't know one of his top people had infiltrated a major ISC system and attacked my family? Now we're supposed to accept that eleven ESComm ships went rogue and committed an act of war? How stupid does he think we are?"
    Kurj took a swallow of kava. "Qox is playing a game—a vicious, calculated game. If we attack in response to the Onyx affair, he will claim we started the war."
    "It's obviously a false claim."
    "False, yes. Obvious? To us, yes. To the Allied Worlds of Earth? Maybe not." Kurj rubbed his eyes with no attempt to hide his fatigue. He rarely relaxed his defenses and let anyone sense his emotions. Eldrin was one of the few people who saw the human side of his daunting half-brother. It had taken Eldrin years to realize how the rest of humanity viewed Kurj, because the Imperator tended to ease up with him.
    "It wouldn't take much to put off the Allieds," Kurj said. "They already don't trust us."
    "It's disheartening."
    "Yes." Kurj's inner lids slid up, revealing his gold eyes. 'Tell me something more cheerful, heh? That's why I came home." He let his body sink into the sofa and made a visible effort to relax his tensed muscles. "How are Dehya and Taquinil?"
    "Beautiful," Eldrin said. "Dehya's tired, though. The Kyle web takes a lot out of her. Both of you."
    "That it does. It's like a quicksand, an endless pit." Kurj shook his head. "It takes everything we have and wants more. I don't know how much longer Dehya and I can maintain it."
    Eldrin hadn't expected that. "But the two of you can find a solution, can't you?"
    "Just between you and me," Kurj said, "no. I don't see how."
    Eldrin stared at him. What Kurj had just revealed went against every public portrayal he had seen of the Dyad. Although Dehya shielded her mind, he had picked up hints from her. He knew she was exhausted. But he hadn't realized it was that bad. "What will happen to the Kyle web?"
    "As long as Dehya and I can keep going, we'll be all right" Kurj downed the rest