Chapter Seven
“You know a little about us, I’m assuming?” she asked me.
“A little. He’s shown me Tenctah, from space, and Ailopt. We’ve talked about… this and that.” This and that and little in between.
“Good,” she said. “And what of the governing structure of Ailopt?”
“He’s the heir apparent—the vra-khinahar. And…” I squinted, trying to think back to how Del had described it. “There are some officials below him…” A ruling body, I think he’d called them. I’d vaguely envisioned something like England’s system—with the crucial difference, of course, being that Del would serve as much more than a mere monarchical figurehead.
“Yes. For us rumae, it’s a system that has borne the test of time.” Something unspoken lingered at the end of that sentence. “As I understand it,” she continued, “on
