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Jan. 14th, 2026 07:59 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
iniquiticityAd astra per aspera. To the stars through difficulties. (Dorca + Piotr, just after TOI ends.)
"Now," his father said to him, sharply, "This is a great honor. Do not speak unless he speaks to you. Answer him honestly and briefly. Do not be a smart-ass, Piotr. Remember, you are a Vorkosigan, one of the greatest allies of the Imperial House of Vorbarra. We were one of the first alliances of House Vorbarra when Emperor Dorca rose to unify Barrayar and we are going to keep it that way. Be respectful. Show your loyalty."
Piotr, age eleven, nodded. He was the future Count Vorkosigan, after all. It was very important to get these things right.
The doors open and the liveried men of Vorbarra, scowling in their black and silver, flanked it with their bayonets. His father gave him a nudge. He inhaled and took several steps forward.
Emperor Dorca was wearing his colors as well, and he was staring out the window. He was a mountain of a man, his medals glittering, weapons visible. No one was allowed to have weapons around the Emperor other than him and his armsmen, and Piotr felt naked without his knife.
He knelt, and bent his head very low, like he was taught.
"Lord Piotr Vorkosigan," said Emperor Dorca, "Rise. Come to the window."
He did as he was told. Standing next to the Emperor Dorca was breathtaking, but he tried extra hard not to look awestruck. It was important to look calm and steady, his father always said. His father was always telling him to control his temper and his mouth.
"What do you see, Lord Vorkosigan?"
Down on the window the ships from the freshly-opened wormhole had landed in the street. Bright light was pouring off them, more like moonlight than candlelight or bonfires. The ships had their own light, he heard. The people from the ships - the people from the other side of the wormhole - had set up little tents and talked among themselves. They were from Komarr, which was a whole different planet. His father had said that on Komarr they all lived in a dome because they couldn't breathe the air. The Komarrans were talking to the princes. Prince Xav, the bastard, was talking. Prince Yuri, the next Emperor, was nodding.
Surely Emperor Dorca did not just want him to point out things. Emperor Dorca had eyes. Emperor Dorca was the most successful and brilliant Barrayaran of all time. He swallowed. The Emperor's gaze was suffocating.
"More territory to conquer, Sire," he said, in the most forceful voice he could make. He wished his voice would get deep soon.
The Emperor smiled out of the corner of his mouth. Piotr squeezed his stomach in because he felt a hysterical laugh inside of him. He was going to tell his father RIGHT AWAY that he had made the Emperor smile.
"Very good, Lord Vorkosigan."
"Thank you, Sire."
The Emperor leaned towards him. "We'll have to be patient, of course. It won't be me. Perhaps it will be Prince Yuri, or Prince Yuri's son. We'll let them give us all their technology out of pity, and then we'll use it against them. You will carry my son's banner on those other planets with their new weapons and their new armor, won't you? These Komarrans. They would make excellent Barrayaran subjects, don't you think?"
"Absolutely, Sire," Piotr said, trying to stop his face from burning, "It would be my honor, Sire."
Emperor Dorca patted his shoulder. Piotr's mind flashed: Dorca the Just touched me!
"Tell your father I want to talk to him, Lord Vorkosigan."
That was, obviously, a dismissal. He nodded, trying not to let his elation show. Counts were never elated. "Yes, Sire."
"Now," his father said to him, sharply, "This is a great honor. Do not speak unless he speaks to you. Answer him honestly and briefly. Do not be a smart-ass, Piotr. Remember, you are a Vorkosigan, one of the greatest allies of the Imperial House of Vorbarra. We were one of the first alliances of House Vorbarra when Emperor Dorca rose to unify Barrayar and we are going to keep it that way. Be respectful. Show your loyalty."
Piotr, age eleven, nodded. He was the future Count Vorkosigan, after all. It was very important to get these things right.
The doors open and the liveried men of Vorbarra, scowling in their black and silver, flanked it with their bayonets. His father gave him a nudge. He inhaled and took several steps forward.
Emperor Dorca was wearing his colors as well, and he was staring out the window. He was a mountain of a man, his medals glittering, weapons visible. No one was allowed to have weapons around the Emperor other than him and his armsmen, and Piotr felt naked without his knife.
He knelt, and bent his head very low, like he was taught.
"Lord Piotr Vorkosigan," said Emperor Dorca, "Rise. Come to the window."
He did as he was told. Standing next to the Emperor Dorca was breathtaking, but he tried extra hard not to look awestruck. It was important to look calm and steady, his father always said. His father was always telling him to control his temper and his mouth.
"What do you see, Lord Vorkosigan?"
Down on the window the ships from the freshly-opened wormhole had landed in the street. Bright light was pouring off them, more like moonlight than candlelight or bonfires. The ships had their own light, he heard. The people from the ships - the people from the other side of the wormhole - had set up little tents and talked among themselves. They were from Komarr, which was a whole different planet. His father had said that on Komarr they all lived in a dome because they couldn't breathe the air. The Komarrans were talking to the princes. Prince Xav, the bastard, was talking. Prince Yuri, the next Emperor, was nodding.
Surely Emperor Dorca did not just want him to point out things. Emperor Dorca had eyes. Emperor Dorca was the most successful and brilliant Barrayaran of all time. He swallowed. The Emperor's gaze was suffocating.
"More territory to conquer, Sire," he said, in the most forceful voice he could make. He wished his voice would get deep soon.
The Emperor smiled out of the corner of his mouth. Piotr squeezed his stomach in because he felt a hysterical laugh inside of him. He was going to tell his father RIGHT AWAY that he had made the Emperor smile.
"Very good, Lord Vorkosigan."
"Thank you, Sire."
The Emperor leaned towards him. "We'll have to be patient, of course. It won't be me. Perhaps it will be Prince Yuri, or Prince Yuri's son. We'll let them give us all their technology out of pity, and then we'll use it against them. You will carry my son's banner on those other planets with their new weapons and their new armor, won't you? These Komarrans. They would make excellent Barrayaran subjects, don't you think?"
"Absolutely, Sire," Piotr said, trying to stop his face from burning, "It would be my honor, Sire."
Emperor Dorca patted his shoulder. Piotr's mind flashed: Dorca the Just touched me!
"Tell your father I want to talk to him, Lord Vorkosigan."
That was, obviously, a dismissal. He nodded, trying not to let his elation show. Counts were never elated. "Yes, Sire."