Great, just what she wanted, to be on display next to her possible future mother-in-law.

Behind her the door of the tower slid open and Arland stepped onto the path.

On second thought, joining Lady Ilemina was an excellent idea. Maud walked over and took a seat on Ilemina’s left. Out of the corner of her eye, she saw Arland stalking down the path toward them.

Yes, yes. Stalk all you want. There was no way he would be discussing any kind of fraternization in front of his mother and stepfather. She’d outmaneuvered him. For some odd reason, it made her feel ridiculously accomplished.

On the lawn, House Krahr, led by Karat, formed a dense ring of bodies around the pillar. Houses Kozor and Serak split their forces, preparing to attack from opposite sides. A familiar blond mane caught Maud’s eye on Kozor’s side. Seveline was leading their assault.

“They’re using the Pincher attack,” Ilemina said.

“Seems badly thought out,” Lord Otubar said. “There aren’t enough of them to effectively break through, and she knows they’re coming. Too crude.”

The maneuver seemed painfully blatant. Karat was shifting her forces to compensate, but she was doing it slowly, waiting for the other shoe to drop.

Arland strode over. The only open seat was next to Otubar. Arland picked it up, moved it next to her, and sat down.

“Opinion?” Ilemina asked him.

He studied the field. “Nothing in either Kozor’s or Serak’s tactics up until now indicates a preference for direct assault.”

“It’s a feint,” Otubar said.

“The question is, where are they going with this?” Ilemina murmured. “Did you finish the comparative analysis?”

Arland grimaced. “There was not enough data for a definitive conclusion. What data we have from the known pirate assaults is consistent with the known tactical patterns of our cherished guests. Similarity isn’t proof, however.”

“What about the lees’ data?” Otubar asked.

“Nuan Cee is stalling,” Arland said.

“Perhaps something can be done to persuade him to share.” Lady Ilemina glanced at Maud.

They were speaking in front of her as if she was already part of the House, and more, they were asking for her advice. She wasn’t sure if she should be flattered or upset that everyone at the table viewed her joining House Krahr as a foregone conclusion.

“Give me something to trade,” she said. “It is a common misconception that the lees love money above all else. That’s not exactly true. They love a bargain; they love getting a good deal. Getting more for less is the foundation of their society. Let me take something to them they will find irresistible.”

“I find haggling distasteful.” Ilemina frowned. “Mostly because I’m terrible at it. I prefer a fair price, which I can pay without any negotiations.”

“And they think you weaker for it.” Maud shrugged.

When you bargained with a lees, the first price they quoted you was always outrageous. It was a test and you had three options: first, you could pay the price and be known as a fool by their great-great grandchildren; second, you could walk away and be judged too rigid to become a business partner or an ally; and third, you could bargain. Only the third option brought respect.

On the lawn, House Serak engaged Karat’s left flank. She’d shifted her formation into a rough oval ring, with two ends facing Serak and Kozor. Karat stood in the middle by the pillar, her practice blade ready in her hand.

The Serak’s assault hammered the Krahr, but the left flank held. On the right, nearly twenty-five yards away, the Kozor formed a wedge with Seveline as the tip of the spear. The two vampire knights directly behind her looked like they had jumped out of a production of an ancient saga, each of them almost as large as Otubar.

The wedge charged. The knights thundered forward, picking up speed, like a herd of enraged rhinos.

“Hold!” Karat’s voice rang out. The defenders braced themselves, doing their best impersonation of an immovable object about to meet an unstoppable force.

Now the plan made more sense. If it wasn’t for Serak, Karat’s forces could scatter, leaving only a few defenders in the middle to slow the charge as it penetrated the circle while the majority of her knights cut at the mass of invaders from the sides. Maud had seen that maneuver before. Done correctly, it absorbed the kinetic energy of the charge like a sponge. But with Serak at her back, Karat had no opportunity to maneuver. The steady pressure at her back left her only one choice—to hold.

The Kozor were almost on them. Maud held her breath, bracing herself as if she were in the line of defenders.

The wedge parted slightly, Seveline slipping through the ranks to the back. The final row of the wedge swept her off her feet and up. Seveline dashed across the armored shoulders and backs of Kozor knights and leaped. For a moment she flew, her lean form silhouetted against the blue sky, sunlight gleaming from her armor, then she landed in the circle. Karat shied to the right, avoiding getting knocked down by a hair.

Seveline struck at her, spinning fast like a dervish. Karat blocked, backing up, straight into the back of her own armored line. Seveline was a whirlwind. Her strikes pierced Karat’s defense in a flurry, so fast Maud could barely follow. Damn. Karat blocked and dodged but she had nowhere to go. Red streaks slashed her armor, the blows of Seveline’s practice sword leaving their mark.

Damn it.

Karat’s headpiece flashed white. Seveline had scored a mortal wound. Karat swore and threw her sword to the ground. Seveline laughed and fell onto the Krahr’s defensive line.

“Interesting,” Otubar said, watching Seveline massacre the knights from the rear.

“What could we offer the lees?” Ilemina sipped blue wine from her glass, her tone relaxed.

“They want the trade station,” Maud said.

Ilemina smiled. “Only that?”

“The idea of a trade station has some merit,” Arland said, his gaze fixed on the crumbling Krahr line.

Otubar made a low rumbling noise that may have been agreement or disdain. Maud didn’t know the Lord Consort well enough to tell.

Ilemina’s eyebrows rose. “You too?”

Otubar gave a barely perceptible shrug.

“We can take the fleet to the Serak system, and I can reduce their fleets to space garbage,” Arland said. “We have military superiority in both numbers and the caliber of our ships. However, we can’t hold the system indefinitely. Lady Maud is a student of vampire history. Tell us, my lady, what do we know about occupying the territory of other houses?”

Thank you for that bus that just rolled over me after you threw me under it. Felt lovely.

“Nobody in the history of the Holy Anocracy has ever won a partisan war. Anytime an occupation of another House was attempted, it either failed or the weaker House ceased to exist.”

“If you count both Serak and Kozor, there are almost a million beings between the two planets,” Arland said. “We cannot occupy their territory, so the only recourse would be annihilation.”

Arland’s destroyer flashed before Maud’s eyes. Stationary targets, like planets and defensive installations on moons, had no chance against space fleets. They followed a fixed orbit and they couldn’t dodge. Launching a kinetic projectile or a barrage of missiles when the computers could calculate the precise position of your target was child’s play. House Krahr could simply sit back and bombard the two planets until nothing alive remained on the surface. An icy needle pierced her spine. They were sitting here discussing the potential death of a million beings. It wasn’t an abstract discussion on the morality of it; it wasn’t hypothetical. They really could do it. Whatever was said here in the next few minutes would determine if the next generation of Kozor and Serak children would ever grow up.

“Some would see it as the only option,” Ilemina said.

“We are not a House that would stoop to genocide against our own kind,” Arland said.

Ilemina smiled.

Seveline was climbing the pillar.

“Lady Maud?” Ilemina asked. “Do you have any thoughts?”

Maud sipped her wine. Her throat had suddenly gone dry. “It seems to me that since Serak and Kozor found themselves resorting to plundering trade vessels, they are short on funds.”

“They are stuck in a remote system with no means to expand their military,” Otubar said.

Seveline waved the flag from the pillar’s top.

“So, there is very little gain to be had from wiping them out,” Maud said. “Financially, it’s a loss. It would cost a fortune in fuel and munitions. From a military standpoint, it’s also a loss. House Krahr would gain no territory, resources, or strategic advantage. If one considers it a matter of honor, there is little of it in a victory over an opponent who never had a chance. It would do nothing to enhance the already stellar reputation of House Krahr.”

Ilemina chuckled into her wine. “Such flattery, Lady Maud. They have raided our ships. Satisfaction must be achieved.”

“And I’m sure Lord Arland would crush them so completely that by the time he finished, the only space-worthy vessels in the system would be escape pods.” Maud drank more wine. “It seems to me that once the pirating adventures of our esteemed guests become public knowledge, the trade would shift. The two systems will wither and rot without their main source of income. The trade will have to go somewhere.”