The Sand Prince by Kim Alexander

basket at the far end of the room, away from the windows and covered by a sheer muslin blanket to keep the dust out. Yuenne headed straight for it. Diia rose to her feet and blocked his approach.
    "Leave him be, Yuenne. I’ve just gotten him to sleep. If a jumpmouse in the Quarter twitches its tail, he wakes up. You’ll see him at the party, along with everyone else."
    He nodded pleasantly at Diia, who folded her arms and remained standing, and went back to lounge in the seat across the desk from Hellne.
    "Have you decided on a name?" he asked.
    "Yes," she replied, "I have a few things in mind."
    He looked surprised. "I would have thought you’d name him for your father. Am I mistaken?"
    She set down her pen and looked up at him . He is lying, she thought. He didn’t think that at all. And with absolute certainty, As long as I am Queen, everyone will lie to me. She felt a wave of dizziness, and very alone. She folded her hands on the desk to hide a tremor. "My father. Remind me, Yu, since I think you know your histories better than I. How many kings called Fadeer were there? Including my father, I can think of only two."
    He tapped his chin. "Well, your father, of course. And the big one, Fadeer who ruled when the city wall was designed. And I believe there was a third, very early in the regency, before the humans came."
    "Three then. I think that’s sufficient. Three, including Father. Rest him now." He didn’t reply—she knew he often let people shovel sand into their own mouths by simply not replying. "After all, he failed to see the threat the humans posed. And after the Weapon, he made up for his failure by successfully turning his face to the wall. Three Fadeers are enough."
    He nodded, his precise smile never budging. "Then the little heir will have a new name. And, I am pleased to tell you, possibly a playmate in a few months."
    "You and Siia? I am delighted to hear it." She was. She liked Siia. Everyone knew Yuenne had done well for himself by marrying into her clan. Although of course, now it didn’t matter, as most of her clan was gone. "They won’t be alone. Did you know, they are calling it the Ash Born, there are so many babies on the way?"
    "Do you know what they call it outside the Arch?" She shook her head. "They’re calling them Dust Bunnies."
    She laughed. "I like that. I should try and use it in this speech." She leafed through the pages on her desk. "People could use a smile. I’ll have to talk about the attack first, and how the humans tricked us, I’m not looking forward—"
    "Oh, but you mustn’t." She thought he looked genuinely concerned. "No, they didn’t trick us." He templed his fingers. "Think, Hellne. Would you rather be the leader of a clutch of ragged victims, or the Queen of a proud race, vanquished only by treachery after a vicious battle?"
    She cocked her head. "I’m not sure I follow. The human people attacked us unawares."
    "Let me ask you a question. What colors do we wear?"
    "Somber colors," she replied. "The colors of Eriis; ash, smoke, dust, sand. As you know, you helped me craft the law...."
    "Indulge me," he said. "Why do we wear only these colors? And what would happen if you made yourself a new gown of, say, blue and green?"
    "I would be breaking my own law," she said. "And it would be extremely vulgar." She could scarcely remember those terrible weeks after the Weapon, at the time she’d signed the law because bright things, new things, seemed an added insult to those who were lost.
    "But you could do it," he said, warming to his topic. "Because inside the Arch, we have our food and drink transformed by others. We have the spare energy to create whatever we like. But we don’t, because we must set an example. If a transform farmer decided to stop working and make his wife a pretty dress, before long we’d have a city full of starving people in bright clothes."
    "What has this to do with—"
    Yuenne shook his head. "We were never tricked by those hairy beasts.