Chapter 5: Serving Dizyntk

The Dizyntk Grand Imperium would be regarded, in human terms, as a true monarchy. Although in structure it is an unusual one. There are actually three monarchs. The fourteen star systems that make up the Imperium are divided into three groups. These are the Imperial Star Cluster, the Second Star Cluster and the Third Star Cluster. As the name implies the Imperial Star Cluster is ruled directly by the Empress herself. She technically rules over the entire Imperium, but her authority is delegated to the two royal houses who oversee the Second and Third Star Clusters. This was done as a time saving measure due to the vast distances involved in interstellar travel. The time involved in traveling from one end of Dizyntk space to the other is about six weeks. The Imperial Star Cluster contains the greatest number of systems at six. Currently the other two clusters contain four systems each. There are six systems that are currently undergoing colonization. These are considered frontier worlds. As their populations reach the levels necessary for entrance into the Imperium proper they will be assigned to either the Second or Third Clusters as location dictates. The current population of the Imperium is roughly 100 Billion Dizyntk and one Human. The number of Humans may be increasing however.

For some time, Empress Ziniadyra had been aware that there were humans who, having grown tired of the Protectorate's religious dogma, would be desirous of settling in Dizyntk space. At first there was little thought of accepting these aliens into her domain. This was not changed when it was learned that the humans could interbreed with her people. It was thought that there was little possibility of any Dizyntk willingly mating, let alone breeding, with a human. The news then came of Feyalisa's safe return to Sapphire. There was also the news of her new mate, a human, a human that she had mated and bred with. A human that was willing to stay in the Imperium in order to bond with Feyalisa. This knowledge completely changed the course of the Empress' thinking. It was apparent that humans could find her people attractive. It was obvious that Feyalisa was attracted to the human; she had a young daughter by him as proof of that.

For six months the Empress and her advisors discussed the possibility of allowing human settlers into Dizyntk space. As the reports arrived that this human on Sapphire was quickly adapting to life with the Dizyntk, it significantly influenced the course of the discussions. The Empress finally decided that she would ask the Dizyntk with the most intimate knowledge of living with humans for her opinion. She dispatched a personal letter summoning Princess Feyalisa Zerleen to the Imperial Palace on Dizyn.

Feyalisa was relaxing in her bedroom. It was still very early, almost two hours before dawn. Michael had left just an hour ago. It was time for his ship to leave on patrol. Feya had awakened when he had gotten out of bed and had seen him off. Now she was sitting at her desk and softly stroking her growing belly. She was about five months along in her pregnancy. The thought of a new child made Feya very happy. It was not the only thing that made her happy however. The first time that Michael had gone on patrol Feya had been very lonely. That was not a problem anymore however. Feya smiled as she looked at Velakari sleeping soundly on the bed. Kari had been together with them for four months now. Kari was not yet bonded to her and Michael but that would change. Of that Feya had little doubt. Her mate and Kari were becoming closer all the time. Feya crawled back into bed and snuggled up to Kari. Feya loved the way that she smelled right now. It was a combination of Kari's own scent mixed with that of Michael's. Feya nuzzled against Kari's breasts and Kari unconsciously wrapped her arms around Feya's head and hugged her to them. Feya became very relaxed and began to drift off. As she did she thought that as soon as the three of them were bonded that her life would be complete.

Feya was surprised when, three hours later, Risakala woke her. Feya had no appointments today and was hoping to spend most of it lounging in bed with Kari. Both of them looked up at Risa.

"I am sorry to disturb you, Your Highness." she said. "There is a messenger here to see you."

"Is it important?" Feya asked sharply. She was just a bit irritated at having her day off disturbed.

"I believe so, Your Highness." Risa said patiently. She knew that her Princess was not happy at the interruption of her leisure time.

Feya nodded and got out of bed. She knew that Risakala would not have woken her for anything trivial. She reminded herself to apologize later for her tone. She got herself dressed and kissed Kari.

"Stay here, my love. I will not be long." she said

Kari nodded and curled back up. She was still tired from the workout that Feya and Michael had given her the night before.

Feya entered the living area of her quarters and saw a male Dizyntk standing there. He bore the rank insignia of a captain and was dressed in the silver and black uniform of the Empress' personal guard. Feya immediately realized that Risa had been right, this was important. As he saw Feyalisa enter he dropped to one knee and bowed his head.

"Pardon this intrusion, Your Highness." he said, his head never coming up. "I have been instructed to deliver a personal message to you from Her Imperial Majesty."

Feya nodded and said "It is always a pleasure to greet one of the Empress' guards. Please stand, Captain."

He did so and handed her an envelope bearing the personal seal of Empress Ziniadyra.

Feya opened the message and read it.

"My dearest Feyalisa. I am so happy that you have returned safely to your family on Sapphire. Please forgive the tardiness of this letter. I should have written to you sooner but I have been quite busy. This is a poor excuse for my lack of manners however. I should have sent you greetings, as well as my sympathies for the loss of your mother, as soon as you returned. To make up for this unforgivable lapse on my part, it would please me greatly if you and your new family would come to visit me at the Imperial Palace. I have instructed Captain Girendalan to wait until you have prepared for your journey. He will personally escort you to Dizyn. I look forward to meeting you once more and to see how you have grown since I last saw you."

Feya was a bit taken aback. It was not every day that the Empress invited you to the Imperial Palace. It was even rarer that she would do so with a personal written invitation. Such things were normally done with official form letters. "The Empress requests your presence" sort of thing. Either way it meant that Feya was going to Dizyn. One simply did not refuse an invitation from Her Imperial Majesty. That went double for a personal invitation such as the one Feya was holding in her hands.

Feya looked at the Captain "Thank you, Captain Girendalan. I will need to inform my grandmother and make arrangements for my daughter to be away from her classes. I should be ready to leave by tomorrow morning."

She wrote an order for her personal transport to be made ready and handed it to the Captain.

He bowed deeply "I will send word back to Dizyn with the messenger ship that brought me. I shall be waiting for you aboard your transport."

Feyalisa returned to her room. There she told Velakari what about the Empress' invitation.

"How long do you think you will be there?" Kari asked.

"At least a week." Feya replied. "Probably longer."

Kari nodded and said, "Then I shall remain here and wait for Michael."

Feya gently stroked her friend's cheek and asked, "Are you sure?"

Kari smiled at her. "Yes, I am sure. If you are on Dizyn for any longer than a week then you will not be back in time to welcome Michael home. I will stay and do that in your stead."

Feya hugged Kari tightly. "Thank you, my love. I will send word home if I am going to be on Dizyn for an extended period."

Afterwards, Feya went and took care of those things she needed to for the trip. She had Risakala choose the clothes she would need and pack them. Next, Feya went to see Virathea and inform her of the trip. The young Captain then got busy preparing for security on the trip. Feya finally went to visit Aria's class. She had not been here since she had been back on Sapphire. It was the same building that she herself had attended classes so long ago. She arrived during the lunch break. As she entered, Aria was the first to see her.

Aria's eyes went wide as she saw her mother enter. She jumped up and ran to Feya. She was always happy to see her mother.

"Hello, mother. What are you doing here?" she asked cheerfully as she hugged her.

"I came to see your teacher and to talk to you." Feya replied.

"Is something wrong, mother?" Aria asked.

Feya slowly shook her head. "Not at all, my dearest. We are just going on a trip."

"A trip?" Aria asked. "Where are we going?"

"This morning I received an invitation to go to Dizyn." Feya said with a smile.

Aria smiled widely. "Dizyn!? I have wanted to see Dizyn ever since I saw pictures of it in class. Who invited you?"

Feya leaned in close to her daughter and whispered in her ear. "We were invited by the Empress."

Aria's eyes went wide and she yelped. "THE EMPR..." she got out before her mother gently, but firmly, clamped her hand over her mouth.

She smiled at her daughter's surprise. She said in a very quite voice, "Not so loud my dearest."

Aria nodded and whispered, "When are we leaving?"

"Tomorrow morning." she replied. "That is why I am here today so that I can tell your teacher. You can tell your friends where you are you going but do not tell them who invited us."

"Why should I not tell them that?" Aria asked. She was a little puzzled by this.

"Your friends might think that you are bragging about things, don't you think?" Feya asked her daughter.

Aria thought about this for a few seconds and nodded. Some of them might think that. The last thing Aria wanted was for any of her friends to think badly of her about something like this.

Feyalisa stood and said, "Now finish your lunch, my precious, and then Virathea will take you back to the palace so you can pack for our trip."

"Yes, Mother." Aria answered. She went back to sit with her friends to finish her lunch.

Aria's friends were very interested about why her mother had come to the school. The news of her trip, and of its suddenness, did not overly excite any of them. The school was mostly attended by the children of noble or wealthy families. The majority of them were therefore used to things like this coming up on occasion. It was rare for any of them not to miss several months every year due to such trips. This was especially true of those who came from smaller mating groups like Feya's.

By the end of the day Feya had made all the necessary arrangements. Her grandmother was as interested as Feya as to why the Empress had sent a hand written invitation. Kiasyphia decided that it was probably due to the fact that Feyalisa was family. Any other reason would just have to be discovered by Feya when she arrived on Dizyn.

The next morning Feya's transport lifted off from Sapphire. Feya and Aria sat on the bridge as the ship slipped rapidly up through the atmosphere and left the planet behind. Two Dizyntk warships took up positions to either side of the transport as escorts. Feya smiled as she saw that one of them was the destroyer that had brought her home almost a cyanka ago and that now bore her name. It would take the better part of a day to reach a jump point and six more to actually get to Dizyn.

Eight days later Feya arrived on Dizyn. From orbit the planet was beautiful. It was a blue and green planet much like Sapphire although almost a third of its surface was covered with cities. They landed near the Imperial Palace in the late afternoon. The palace was over twice the size of the one on Sapphire. As Feya and Aria exited the ship there were forty members of the Imperial Guard waiting to greet them and take them to the palace. This was in addition to the dozen members of her own personal guard that had traveled with her. It was certainly a lot considering that they were on as safe a planet as existed in Dizyntk space. Feya was a Crown Princess, however, and such a large honor guard was considered only proper for someone of her station. Had her grandmother come with her then the number of troops would have been at least triple.

After they arrived at the palace Feya and Aria were taken to a private room so that they could change clothes and rest until it was time for their audience with the Empress. It was the first time that Feya had worn her full royal garments since her coronation. Aria had never worn such fancy clothing at all and was a bit uncomfortable at first. She felt better when her mother explained that she would only have to wear them until after the Empress had officially welcomed them to the palace.

An hour later they were taken to the entrance of the Imperial audience chamber. It was a huge room that had seating for two thousand Dizyntk on either side of the long walkway that led to the raised dais on which sat the Imperial throne. Normally the room might be half full, if that, for receptions such as this one. The combination of Feya's station and of her fame due to her recent return after having been thought dead for so long ensured that right now the room was completely packed by various nobility from not only Dizyn but from several other planets as well. In addition there was a full compliment of 100 Imperial Guards flanking the walkway.