A Brother's Price

him.
    The cab came to a stop before the palace in a vast paved courtyard and they spilled hastily out into the fresh air. Women in the livery of the Queens unloaded the wagon as Raven paid the cab driver. The servants were of similar coloring and height, making Jerin suspect they were sisters.
    “This is the Queens’ majordomo, Barnes.” Raven indicated the woman supervising the others, polished in dress, face passive, but eyes deeply curious.
    “I’m at your service,” Barnes said in greeting, giving a half bow. “The Queen Mother Elder wishes to meet you immediately. I must insist, however, that no weapons be kept in the palace. Anything you surrender will be returned to you at the end of your stay.”
    “There are rifles in our luggage,” Eldest stated, undoing her gun belt.
    Jerin froze, unsure what to do. His mothers always stressed that he should never go unarmed among strangers.
    Summer carried only the six-shooter but had three knives. Corelle wore two six-shooters and a derringer, but no knives. Eldest matched Summer with knives, Corelle for guns, and then added two pairs of brass knuckles and a wire garrote. Barnes and Raven took the weapons without comment or surprise. Jerin was amazed Eldest surrendered all her stash weapons, but apparently she judged the risk of being caught with them in the presence of the Queens too high to warrant keeping them on her.
    Which probably meant he should give up his weapons. He gave Eldest a questioning look, and she nodded. Reaching into his pocket, he produced his derringer.
    Barnes startled visibly. “Holy Mothers above.”
    Raven raised one eyebrow and accepted it. “You know how to use this?”
    Jerin nodded, blushing at the thought of taking his knife off. Eldest rescued him by kneeling at his feet, reaching under the hem of his walking robe, and undoing the shin sheath. She made no move, thankfully, to retrieve his lock picks; if she had, he would have discovered if it was possible to die of embarrassment.
    Raven accepted the knife with a slight, unexpected smile.
    Barnes gave Raven an unreadable look, then turned to the Whistlers. “Thank you for your cooperation. Come this way.”
    Barnes led them through a portcullis and down a graveled path to a deep porch overlooking the gardens. Wicker chairs sat in a loose circle, facing one another. A tall stately woman sat waiting for them. She wore a green silk shirt, high-collared with long, narrow sleeves that matched her deep green eyes. A gold circlet over her short, gray-tinged red hair proclaimed her as Queen Mother Elder. Besides the green eyes and red hair, she shared her daughters’ deceivingly delicate features and fair skin.
    Barnes announced them, waited until the Queen Elder dismissed her with a wave of fingers, and bowed out.
    Queen Elder considered Jerin with a cock of her head and slightly pursed lips. After long minutes of study, she indicated that they should sit. A servant moved forward to pour tea, then faded into the background.
    The Queen Elder addressed Eldest. “I was one of seventeen sisters. There are only five of us left. Illness, war, childbirth, and assassins have weeded us down. We had twenty daughters, which are now ten. It matters much to us that the count is not nine. We are indebted that you put a brother to risk providing aid to our daughter.”
    “We merely followed the law,” Eldest said quietly, choosing to ignore the fact she hadn’t been present to consult on the matter. The law usually held the entire family responsible for one sister’s action. A family could otherwise engage in wanton lawbreaking, sacrificing one sister to save the rest if they were caught. The inverse, Jerin decided, must be that they were held accountable for good deeds too.
    “Unfortunately,” the Queen Elder said, “when it comes to men, our people tend not to be law-abiding. Finding a stranger on their land, most women would have let their fear for their menfolk rule their actions. In part, by rewarding you, I lift you up as an example. If we’re to stand against our neighboring nations, we cannot be fighting so between ourselves. This was why the husband raids were outlawed. This was why blood feuds are forbidden. This is why the traveler’s-aid law was created. Our people must be made to understand that their neighbors are their sisters.”
    The Queen Elder sipped her tea and they sat in silence, unsure what to say.
    Eldest finally cleared her throat and said into the silence, “My