Freya nodded. "However, they're keeping it out of the systems. I could not get a read on what it was. Just something that is being built."
Caoimhe nodded. "I understand."
"What is it?" Freya asked.
Caoimhe glanced at the floor and back up. "I don't know. I believe it is a weapon."
"That sounds likely," Eleanor said. "Father would be building bigger weapons."
"Which is why we must bring peace to this war." Caoimhe clasped her hands and held them to her chest. "If we can broker peace, then such a weapon could be stopped. And we can repair our people. Both sets of people. The Rhimodians and the Terrans."
"That will take generations," Eleanor said.
"Every day this war continues, it is one more day that we must watch our people be killed. The Rhimodians have the technology to heal many Terran illnesses."
"How do you know this?" Freya asked.
"I have seen it," she said. Her eyes brimmed with tears.
Freya wanted to ask more, but she stopped because Diado returned. Like a switch, Caoimhe's torment vanished.
Like it had never been there.
Freya touched her friend's arm. "This will go well, I promise."
Caoimhe patted her back. "I know it will. It must."
"Do not worry," Diado said. "Everything will go exactly as it should. You'll see. This will be the greatest day in the Terran Empire's history."
"I hope so."
After a little more futzing by Diado, the three of them headed into the main chamber of the suite. There, bodyguard Veta waited, still in her bodysuit instead of her formal gown.
She and Bianca would dress in the heavy outer red robes. Still, underneath, the bodyguard refused to put on the extra dress layers. She claimed the layers would obstruct her ability to protect the princesses.
Bianca wore a dress similar to Freya's but less ornate, signifying her position. Freya had to understand the minutia of rank and status as Lady in Waiting and how it was expressed, including how they dressed.
"We’re crossing the shielding now,” Diado said.
The ship trembled as it passed through the Rhimodian’s defensive shield.
Veta put her hand on the wall, looking unfazed by the trembling.
Freya did the same on the other side of the room, though she doubted she looked as blasé about it as Veta did.
Caoimhe touched Eleanor’s hand. Freya put her hand on Eleanor’s other hand, out of sight. The younger princess squeezed her fingers.
Freya understood. Turbulence scared them. In space, it was usually a sign of attack. It wasn’t her favorite thing, either.
"Look," she said softly as she glanced out the window. Escort ships surrounded their Terran ship.
Eleanor took a step toward the window as well, peeking at the space beyond. And the contrasting shapes of the ships outside.
Terran and Rhimodian fighters escorted them into the Rhimodian shields. Each for their own protection, Freya guessed.
The Rhimodians had not allowed a Terran ship inside the shields since the first time a peace delegation had visited the Rhimodians. Since then, the Terran Empire had been trying to break the shield to end the war.
Princess Caoimhe straightened her headdress, and her fingers traced the embroidery of her dress’s front robe.
