I reached out, and Gertrude Hunt pulled one of the brushes from the stables. They were soft with dense bristles, originally designed for the beasts of burden the Merchants sometimes brought with them, and I had sterilized them after each use. The brush landed in my hand, and I began working through Cyanide’s fur. Her eyes widened, flashing dangerous gold, then half closed, and she turned her head, presenting me with the corner of her jaw. Just like Olasard. Except he barely weighed seventeen pounds. If this went on for too much longer, my legs would go numb.

Silence ensued.

Cyanide made a soft rumble in her throat. It was too deep to be a purr and not violent enough to be a roar, more like an internal contented cough.

“Do you wish to tell me of your planet?” Kosandion asked.

“No.”

Well, this was going swimmingly.

He tried again. “What would you rather talk about instead?”

Cyanide turned over on her back, her fuzzy paws level with my face. I glided the brush along her chest. Long claws shot out of her paws and withdrew.

“If I marry you, can I bring this human with me to serve me?”

“No,” Kosandion said.

“A pity.”

Cyanide made her coughing noise again.

More silence. Kosandion really needed an image boost, and his spousal candidate was flat-out ignoring him. How to salvage this…

Kosandion pulled out a small gadget, squeezed it, and it projected a tablet in front of him. He began scrolling through the documents.

A minute passed. Another.

What was going on?

“You should tell her about our arrangement,” Cyanide said, stretching to get a better brushing angle. “Or she won’t focus on attentions.”

“Is that wise?” I asked.

“This date isn’t broadcast live,” Kosandion told me, still absorbed in whatever he was reading. “Highlights only.”

“I thought all dates were live like Ellenda’s.”

Kosandion put the tablet device on the side table.

“Ellenda didn’t do well in the voting, but her presence guaranteed high ratings,” he said. “My mother was a mysterious, inscrutable figure for most of her stay in the Dominion. She spent twenty-two years there, and by the time she returned to her planet, most people knew just as little about her as they did when she first arrived. For the Dominion’s citizens, Ellenda was a chance to get a better understanding of the Uma, my mother, and my heritage. The Higgra do not generate the same level of interest.”

I thought that the spouse had to stay for a period of 25 years… Oh. Kosandion was twenty-one when his father died. His mother must’ve left when he ascended the throne. Was it voluntary? Did she want to go home?

“I do not care about the Dominion’s interest,” Cyanide rumbled.

“What do you care about?” I asked.

“The neural nets,” Cyanide said. “And Clan Sai.”