Emperor's Gift

Author Notes: Story continues thirty-eight years later. If you want to know what happens between read LMB's books. Simon and Lady Alys are together. Miles and Ekaterin have Nikki and the twins. Mark and Kareen are still on Beta. Spoilers for DI and other books.

The Illyan Wedding

"Simon and I have been together for five years and neither of us are getting younger," said Lady Alys. She had invited her son for tea. She obviously had news to share with him.

"Mother, you aren't one to babble," said Ivan. "Alex and Helen babble. You are usual very straight forward."

"I've always tried to be very proper." Lady Alys sipped her tea. "Simon wasn't going to propose. In the old days, a commoner marrying a Vor lady would lead to his death, so I followed Lady Vorkosigan lead and proposed myself."

Ivan coughed up his tea. "He said yes."

"Simon doesn't need a second because he isn't Vor," Alys confessed. "I'd ask Gregor to declare him Vor, but others would want the honor."

"Simon is more Vor than many that have those three letters in front of their name, myself included."

"I wouldn't say that after what you did for Count Vorrutyer."

Lady Alys asked, "Any suggestions for best man?"

"Have Miles be his best man." Why was his mother asking him these things? She was the master wedding planner.

"I would, but Lady Vorkosigan is going to be our coach."

"Mother, you're been coach at so many weddings you hardly need one."

"For Simon, being his coach and his bride would be undignified."

"You are when you aren't circled by groats."

"Simon is the most wonderful man I've met, outside your father, may he rest in peace. He's sweet, funny and has this amazing simplicity."

"He has almost no short-term memory." Ivan couldn't understand what his mother saw in the man. "And his long-term memory is odd and mostly classified."

"He's happy and he makes every around him happy."

"The village idiot makes people smile. Simon can't carry on a conversation for fifteen minutes before his deficits show. The only reason he hasn't been quietly eliminated by his former staff is because early memories are the clearest, so he's most likely going to leak stuff about Ezar and that is hardly a security threat."

"I won't have you talking about your future stepfather like that."

"If an intelligent non-human race were discovered tomorrow, Simon would sleep with it and not remember five minutes later."

"That only proves that he needs me."

"Duv." Ivan went back to the early conversation about best man.

"Duv. Good choice," said Lady Alys. "If intelligent non-human life were found, you would sleep with it, too."

"Yes, Mother, I would. But I would remember and brag about it to all my friends." Actually, Ivan had a current love. Lady Alys was introduced to Ivan 's roommate but didn't know their relationship went past sharing a flat.

---

Ivan told Stefan that his mother was getting married.

"You should be happy for your mum."

"She treats Simon like a toy." Ivan undressed.

"Is he complaining?"

"No. He likes it. He loves the attention. Everyone tells me that I should be happy for them, but I feel Simon would be more capable if he wasn't babied by her." Ivan walked to the bath.

"Have you told her about our relationship?" Stefan asked.

"I'm going to tell my mother after thirty-five years I play for the other team."

Stefan walked over to him. "Count Vorkosigan married in his forties and the Countess and he are still together."

"Rumor has it that they did it once and that was my cousin Miles."

Stefan put a hand on Ivan shoulder. "What do you believe?"

"Uncle Aral and Aunt Cordelia aren't lovey-dovey around me, but they're private people. Miles laughed about Uncle Simon living with them."

"The same Simon that is marrying your mother?" Stefan kissed Ivan's neck before turning on the bath.

"The same. Uncle Simon was screaming about Aral among other things when my mum fell in love with him." Ivan adjusted the temperature of the water.

"Why was he screaming?"

"His chip was destroyed by a biological agent and my mum stayed with him until the surgeon could remove the malfunctioning device from his brain." Ivan turned slightly. "Everything else is classified."

"That awkward man that follows your mother around is Simon Illyan. I always pictured him as more imposing." Stefan's boss had worked twenty years as head of maintenance at Cockroach Central.

"It's position, not the man. Emperor Gregor is most soft-spoken, shy man that you could ever meet." Ivan stepped into the tub.

"And you met the Emperor?"

"My mother has Gregor wrapped around her finger."

Stefan laughed. "How far down the royal line are you?"

"I've been fourth to the throne most of my life. Now that Gregor and Laisa have children I can sleep at night." Ivan thought about all the people between him and the throne. Uncle Aral was first after Gregor's two sons but Aral was too old to be considered.
Miles was 5/8ths Betan so they would never allow him to be Emperor. His wife was Barrayaran so his children were over half. Then, there was Mark also 5/8 Betan and he lived on Beta so he wasn't interested in the Barrayaran throne. Finally, the next in line was Ivan. "Now, I'm so far away from the throne it no longer matters. Do you want to invite Gregor to our wedding?"

"The security nightmares." Stefan put his hand in the water.

"Gregor and Laisa came to my cousin's wedding."

"You need to talk about your family more."

"I told you all about Miles and my adventures."

"The unclassified ones."

"That all I'm able to tell you."

---

At the reception at Illyan wedding, Kareen grabbed Ivan. "Now that Mark is an assistant professor at the university, we received our parenting license."

"I'm Stefan Lobanov." Stefan gave a slight bow.

"Kareen Koudelka." She took Mark's hand. "This is my Significant Other, Lord Mark."

"The short fat one," Stefan said. He was sort of being polite because Ivan always called him the fat little shit.

"Cousin Ivan told you about me," Mark said.

"Is the little darling in an uterine replicator?" asked Ivan.

"We're doing the in vitro when we get back," said Mark. "I'm not repeating my brother's mistakes."

Kareen said, "They got home in time for the twins."

"Only because they kept then in the uterine replicators an extra month," said Mark.

"Are you Professor Naismith or Vorkosigan?" asked Ivan.

"Koudelka," said Mark proudly.

"We're still MPVK Enterprises," added Kareen.

Ivan drank some more. The fat little shit had to have something wrong in his life. "Turning a profit?"

"The butterbugs are carrying the less profitable ventures," said Mark.

"Mark puts lots of money into life extension," Kareen said. "He wants to put those cloning operations on Jackson Whole out of business. It's good to have long range goals, but sometimes we need to talk bottom line."

"Stefan, let's mingle. Mark, are you rushing back to Beta?"

"No, I plan to visit for my niece and nephew a bit," said Mark.

"A lot of your demons could be put to rest with body molding. If you gained the height that you should have been all these years, you wouldn't be so angry," Ivan suggested.

"I've spoke to doctors about it. I'm having my back straightened. Kareen says she won't leave with the baby unless she can be sure that lifting her won't pull my back out," Mark said. "The extra height would be mostly cosmetic, but the doctors claim it would help with my weight distribution. My legs bones will be vat grown and allowed to finish growing to the height that I should have been inside me. The whole thing terrifies me."

"I'll be there to hold your hand," Kareen insisted.

"I still have nightmares about the surgeries done on me in my youth," Mark stated.

"So you could look like your brother." Stefan tried to follow.

"I don't look like him. When I stopped the hormones, my muscles and bones filled out," Mark said. "My father says I should be six foot. My doctors say five four."

"I think five four is reasonable," Ivan said. It wasn't cosmetic; Mark would always be ugly but the help with weight distribution would relieve pressure on his back and joints.

"I'm sorry that I called you short and fat," Stefan said.

"I'll always be short and fat just not as," Mark said.

---

Ivan walked over to a woman in a black mourning dress with hat and veil. "May I join you?" asked Ivan.

"You're Lady Alys's son, Lord Ivan," said the woman in a Greek accent.

"Yes, ma'am," said Ivan. "We haven't been introduced."

"Marina Illyan Chronis." The woman pushed her veil off her face and over the hat. Her fine gray hair appeared to be tied in a bun under her hat. She had brown eyes and a snub nose similar to Simon's. She looked older than Simon, but she could have been a younger sister. "We haven't heard from him in years and we learn he is marrying a High Vor lady."

"Simon was head of ImpSec," said Ivan.

"He could have wrote his family," said Marina.

"Simon has memory problems," said Ivan. "He lives in the moment."

"His memory problems are recent," said Marina. "My children have never met their uncle Simon."

"How many children do you have?" asked Ivan.

"Nine," said Marina. "Our sister Daphne said I shouldn't have came to the wedding, but I felt he should have someone from the family present."

Ivan said, "Aunt Marina, enjoy the party. When Simon took ill, the Powers that Be were afraid with his memory problems he'd cause security leaks. No one was allowed to see him."

"Lord Ivan, do not make excuses for my brother's behavior."

"His life was so heavily classified that he had nothing he could write his family." Ivan stood up. "He and you are still alive. You can visit him after the honeymoon. He would enjoy that."

Simon sat down on an empty chair. "Alys is dancing with Gregor. We can steal this moment to talk. I know you don't like me marrying your mother."

"You let her baby you," Ivan said.

"After being head of ImpSec, I enjoy having someone take care of me," Simon stated before apparently noticing the woman sitting near Ivan. "Mom, I'm surprised that you came."

"Our mother has been dead for twenty years. I'm your sister, Marina," she said.

"I regret that I stopped writing," Simon stated.

"Your last letter stated that you were chosen to be Emperor Ezar's secretary and you couldn't tell us much about working for him because everything was classified. We would have accepted thirty-eight 'Hello, I'm fine," letter one for each Winterfair."

"I'm sorry that I didn't write. At first everything was classified and I was so busy. Then, it was years and my whole life was protecting Gregor. I gave up having my own family to care for one child."

Aunt Marina added, "Emperor Gregor."

"I needed to keep him safe." Simon smiled. "I couldn't let anyone hurt him. I failed the Lord Regent and his child was injured. I couldn't fail my emperor. I couldn't lock the child in a room, but he needed to be guarded at all times."

"Gregor complained about not having friends his own age," Ivan said. "Miles and I are much younger than him."

"Aral told Gregor that his job as Emperor was to listen to his tutors and be good to his mother," Simon stated. "The oldest memories are the clearest. His mother was killed during the Pretendership. I was no replacement."

"You should have wrote us," Aunt Marina said.

"I'm sorry." Simon shed a few silent tears. "How many nieces and nephews do I have?"

"Fifty-six," she said.

"Wow. I took all my energy to see one child made it to adulthood. How many did you raise?" Simon sipped his fizzy drink - a fancy drink with no alcohol. Lady Alys told the bartender not to serve her husband alcohol, and no one crossed Lady Alys.

"Nine," she said proudly.

"Gregor and Laisa talk about having six," Simon stated. "I would like to have one little girl, but Alys hasn't given me a definite answer."

Ivan coughed. "You and mother are a little old to be having a baby."

"We would use an uterine replicator," Simon said.

"Even so," Ivan said.

"I loved Gregor as my son, but I was never able to forget that he needed to be raised to be a good emperor that would keep the peace on our three worlds. I didn't allow him to play as much as I should have. Everything was always a life lesson. He was a serious child and I took advantage of that," Simon said. "I would like my own child to spoil."

"You did a good job," Marina said.

"I feel proud to know that my tutelage helped him to be the man that he is today." Simon smiled. "Yet, I wish I could have afford him more time for play. I would like to raise one and not have to fear that around every turn there is a would-be assassin."

"I'll tell my sisters and brothers to write you." Marina stood up. "I should be going."

"We could have a dance," Simon stated.

"I rather not." Marina looked away from her brother. Marina put her hand out toward Ivan. "Lord Ivan, would you care for a dance?"

"Certainly, Ma'am." Ivan took her hand. After they started to waltz, Ivan asked, "Why won't you dance with your brother?"

"He stopped writing us once he became the Emperor's secretary. He felt himself to be too good to associate with us back country hicks," she said.

"He was very busy. He probably didn't realize that he didn't write until years had gone by and then he was too ashamed to write," Ivan said. "I could tell you what his life was like as the Emperor's secretary, but as you said I would just be making excuses for him. He has memory problems, but if you write him, my mother will make sure that he returns your letters."

"Thank you, Lord Ivan," she said.

"I know for a fact that Simon slept by the Emperor's chambers for years and soon after he moved into ImpSec. He never really had a private life." Ivan took her hand. "The man did the impossible he kept Barrayar at peace for over thirty years."

"So he kept the peace since Captain Negri death. That doesn't excuse him for shunning his family."

"Emperor Ezar's physicians tempered with his brain. He was ashamed, not the other way around," Ivan said.

"I didn't know," she said.

"If he wrote you a letter, you would have known that his personality had changed." Ivan made certain that he didn't hold the widow too closely. "He may thought about writing his family many times but couldn't bring himself to do it. He may have felt that if he wrote, you wouldn't believe that they were his words."

"His accent is gone," she said. "I wouldn't be here if I didn't want to give him a second chance." She took a slow deep breath. "What was done to him?"

"A memory chip was put in his brain. It eventually failed and needed to be removed. He has problems with short-term memory, but he knows today is his wedding day. He says my mother's love was the best thing that ever happened to him," Ivan stated. Ivan wondered if his family would have cared about Simon the way that Miles, Aunt Cordelia and his mother had or would they stick him in a room and hide him from the neighbors?

After the song was over, Ivan joined his significant other at another table. Ivan watched Simon dance with his sister.

---

Ivan led Stefan over to a tall slender man dancing with a short, well-endowed woman. "Stefan Lobanov, may I introduce Gregor and Laisa Vorbarra?"

Stefan bowed. "Sire and Empress, it's my honor."

"Mr. Lobanov, would you care to dance?" asked Laisa.

"Your Highness, it would be my honor." Stefan blushed.

"I hear you say honor one more time I'll scream." Laisa said. "It's Laisa or Countess Vorbarra. Lady Alys introduced me to Gregor. Have you known Lord Ivan long?"

Ivan stood by Gregor to watch Stefan dance with the Empress. Stefan put his arms around the Empress to dance a waltz. Ivan couldn't hear the rest of their conversation. When the dance was over, Stefan returned Laisa to Gregor.

Stefan went over to their table and sat down.

Ivan sat beside him. "See Gregor and Laisa are real people. They trip over their feet the same as us."

Stefan looked at his hand. "Empress Laisa danced with me. I'm not washing this hand for a week."

"Gregor and I played hide and seek together," said Ivan. "Miles was the best hider. It took us forever to find him. Sometimes we would hide Miles just to see Aunt Cordelia panic."

"That's awful," said Stefan.

"Miles would follow Gregor around. Miles wanted to be just like his foster brother," said Ivan. "Gregor started the hide Miles game to get Miles out from under foot. Gregor would say in his softest voice, 'Let's see how long it takes for the staff to find you?'"

"You're making this up," said Stefan.

"No, once Miles dared Gregor to hide and Uncle Simon nearly had a heart attack. When Uncle Simon said he would need his men to search the house and the grounds, I started to giggle. It was after Miles moved to the Vorkosigan House. I must have been five or six at the time. What did I know of ImpSec?"

Miles sat at the table. "Ivan, introduce me to your friend."

"Stefan Lobanov, this is my cousin Miles."

"I thought you would be taller," said Stefan.

"I thought I would be taller, too," said Miles. "I gave up on the sudden growth spurt theory when I got to about 21. Before my 21st birthday, I had this optimism that I would grow another centimeter or two. Ivan can tell you I'm an eternal optimist. I would drive him crazy with all my plans. I figured I could make anything turn out alright if I tried hard enough."

"Ivan told me about your adventures on Cetaganda," said Stefan.

"They aren't classified on Barrayar, but I wouldn't repeat them in Cetaganda space," said Miles.

"I'm not planning to travel there anytime soon," said Stefan.

"The Cetagandans took a tissue culture from Miles," said Ivan. "Now they can have hundreds of little Miles."

"They'll surprised when they grow to two meters," Miles stated.

"They'll be somewhere between my height and your dad's," Ivan corrected. "Miles has a Napoleon complex."

"I do not," Miles said. "I have a problem with authority."

"You created the little admiral when you were seventeen. If you weren't crippled, the Emperor would have charged you with treason," Ivan said.

"A young Gregor charging a crippled boy with treason would have tainted his political career," said Stefan. "And with our known prejudice against mutants, it would have made us look like barbarians to outsides. You put Gregor in a no win situation. If he punished you, he would be guilty of killing crippled child and not punishing you, he could be seen as granted you nepotism."

Miles groaned. "You weren't introduced as Captain Lobanov, so I assume you're a civilian. So what do you do for a living?"

"I'm a civil engineer," Stefan stated. "I just started working on improving the capital's roadways."

"Five more years and I can retire a twenty year man," said Ivan. "I'm back in ImpSec. I plan to be a major before I retire."

"Don't you have to work to be a major?" said Miles.

Ivan drank some wine. "I became a captain by doing as little work as possible."

"So Stefan, how long do you think Lady Alys will wait until she has Ivan's little sister in an uterine replicator?" asked Miles.

"It only takes two cc's of wine to get Miles drunk," said Ivan.

"Don't you want a little sister?" asked Miles.

"My mother is over sixty," said Ivan. "This is insane."

"Simon has never been married before," said Miles. "And I assure you that my father didn't give him any children. The life expectancy with our imported technology might be as high as 120. Simon has barely any gray hair and I have more wrinkles than he does. Your mother is also young looking. The Durona Group is working on life extension. We could all live to 400."

"Miles, you're an optimist," said Stefan.

"I'm walking without a cane and I have enough energy to chase after my children. The Cetagandans say I may have cardiovascular problems in the future but like my friend Taura said, 'Every day is a gift.'"

Stefan said, "Taura?"

Miles smiled, probably at the memory. "The doctors told her that she wouldn't survive the year for over six years. She was a great woman. Quinn fast couriered me when she took ill but I didn't reach her bedside in time."

"Over eight feet tall," said Ivan. "With fangs. She was Kat's second at Miles and Kat's wedding."

Miles drank some wine. "Ivan, you still didn't tell me where you found this civilian."

"In a pub in Vorruyter Sultana. I was second at Count Dono's wedding. I was heartbroken and drinking away my sorrows. Stefan and I got to talking. We visited each other a few times then Stefan got work in the capital and decided to move to be with me."

"Ivan, you always liked the girls," said Miles.

"Stefan and I sort of happened. I never realized there was another solution to there being 5 men to every 4 women," said Ivan.

Stefan said, "He was crying into his ale about Count Dono marrying Olivia when he brought flowers to the shuttleport for Dono. Ivan said something about wasted chances. Mostly he cried and drank."

Ekaterin joined her husband at the table.

Miles said, "Stefan Lobanov, may I introduce my wife, Lady Vorkosigan. Ekaterin, Stefan Lobanov."

"Pleased to make your acquaintance," said Ekaterin.

"The pleasure is mine." Stefan smiled warmly.

"Ivan, you have been avoiding your mother the whole afternoon," said Ekaterin.

Miles laughed. "Ivan is having dethronement issues. Uncle Simon has been talking about wanting a baby girl."

"They'll be in their eighties before the child is off to college," said Ekaterin.

"My mother will have two babies to care for," said Ivan. "Uncle Simon won't become more independent if she keeps doing for him."

"Alys likes fussing over Simon and Simon enjoys the attention," said Ekaterin. "They're a bit old for a child though, but it's their choice."

Miles laughed. "She could be fussing over you."

"God forbid," said Ivan.

Lady Alys put a hand on her son's shoulder. "I'm going to have one dance with my son before the band packs up their instruments."

"Mother," Ivan whined.

"Hello, Stefan," Lady Alys said.

"We were talking about children," Stefan said.

"Simon wants a little girl," she said. "We figure that she'll go to boarding school at twelve so age isn't that much of a consideration. The idea of having a child in my sixties makes me anxious. Simon managed the security on three planets; he has the energy for one little girl; but I don't know if I do."

"One of many times that I was brought into Simon office, he started ranting that he was looking forward to the day that he retired and had that blasted chip removed," Miles said.

"It would have been less painful if he had the chip removed by his own choice," Lady Alys said.

"It would have been but we can't go back in time. Perhaps, my father could have sat with him," Miles said. "When I told him that father was on Sergyar, he told me that Miles was five years old."

"The breakdown wouldn't have happened if it was removed when it was still functioning," Ivan explained.

"He would have still been confused afterwards," Lady Alys said.

"Is he still confused?" Stefan asked.

"Some of the time," Lady Alys said. "He acts less competent than he is. Paranoia is a survival mechanism on Barrayar."

Ivan stood then took his mother's arm. "Let's have that dance." After the dance, Ivan found a semi-secluded stop in the garden. "Mother, I have something that I need to tell you. I've found the person that I want to spend the rest of my life with."

"I've been waiting to hear that since you turn down the girl that baba found for you," his mother said. "So when do I meet her?"

"You've met him," Ivan said. "Don't think I'm settling because of the skewed sex ratio."

"Never," she said.

"Simon isn't the only one that wants a little girl. I'm afraid the next generation will be skewed the other way," Ivan teased.

"I'm a bit surprised. If you're happy, I'm happy."

Ivan touched his mother's arm. "I've never been happier."

"Are you sure about this? It isn't because you still wanted to marry Lord Dono after his surgery?"

"I was crying about Dono marrying someone else when we met. When I took the lightflyer to see Stefan at every chance I could squeeze in and was disappointed if I couldn't find time to see him every week, I knew. There was ten days between our first and second date and the whole time I couldn't stop thinking about being with him." Ivan laughed. He never talked to his mother about such things. "I've dated so many girls that I didn't care if we had a second date."

"I'm trying not to be offended."

"Mother, I would never tell you the graphic details. I'm just saying when he kissed me I knew."

"Then, I'm happy for you. I should locate Simon before he searches the grounds for me." Lady Alys led her son back to the reception hall. "I've insisted that we get a larger place, but Simon says that we don't need one until the baby is in the replicator. It isn't like he ever lived in that apartment that I rented for him. Then, again, Simon has this habit of renting apartments that he never intends to sleep in."

"It wasn't like he could tell his associates that he was sleeping with the Lord Regent," Ivan said.

"It wasn't much of a secret if you and Miles knew," Lady Alys stated.

"Children see things adults overlook," Ivan said.

Simon joined them. "I was about to send ImpSec after you."

Ivan waved. "She's with ImpSec."

"If Allegre promotes you to major, I'll kick his arse," Simon said.

"He'll probably promote me fortnight before my retirement," Ivan stated.

"It will increase his retirement pay," said Lady Alys.

"Let's join the others," Simon said.