Title: To Gather Paradise.
Author: lannamichaels
Fandom: Vorkosigan Saga
Series: Part 3 of I Dwell In Possibility
Pairing: Piotr Vorkosigan/Gregor Vorbarra, Piotr Vorkosigan/Ezar Vorbarra
Rating: R
A/N: When I wrote I Dwell In Possibility, I tried really really hard to make it Gregor/Piotr. And so I have kept at this fic since 2018, on and off, trying to make it work, so that I could announce BINGO on the fifth Vorbarra who I've had fuck Piotr. I am so proud of this bingo, I cannot even describe. The title is from I Dwell In Possibility (Poem 657) by Emily Dickinson.
Archives: Archive Of Our Own, SquidgeWorld

Summary: In a world filled with Cetagandans, Piotr supposes he can't allow himself to be perturbed by a time traveler.



1.

In a world filled with Cetagandans, Piotr supposes he can't allow himself to be perturbed by a time traveler. That it's some junior Vorbarra who'd come from the future to try to save them all, well, he knows the Vorbarras. One of them could be just arrogant enough to think he could pull it off.

It hadn't saved Piotr's capital. It hadn't saved Piotr's family. Ezar can't explain just what Gregor has saved, but for all that Gregor is masquerading as Ezar's brother, Ezar doesn't know much more about him than Piotr does. Gregor's given them intelligence. It's saved lives. And if Piotr's going to trust Gregor, he needs to be sure it's averted disasters.

But Gregor tells him nothing, citing orders, and Piotr is never going to trust the man who knew about Vashnoi and didn't order an evacuation.

But he doesn't need to trust him to use his intelligence, and it's good, better than the shit Xav passes along. There are times when Gregor's wrong, but Piotr doesn't know if that's memory problems or if it's that things are different now. It does explain why Gregor's been stumbling over the names of ghem-generals for the last three years. It's not incompetence, it's temporal confusion.

He uses Gregor; he doesn't trust him.

But he doesn't need trust to win a war.

There's a peace that might just hold, so when Xav comes, he takes Gregor away. No need now to spare a Vorbarra to keep a Vorkosigan in line. Piotr hears that Xav has Gregor working with the confiscated Cetagandan tech, seeing what secrets their time traveler can give them. It might be pointless, if Gregor's from so far ahead that he doesn't even recognize what's in front of him or know how to use it. But Gregor's welcome to it; better him than Piotr. Cetagandan tech causes mutations more times than not, which was, Piotr assumes, part of how they're designed. The Cetagandans themselves pride themselves on their mutations. Gregor Vorbarra's welcome to that contamination. Piotr has enough of his own to deal with.

Piotr gets his House back in line. What the bombing of Vorkosigan Vashnoi hadn't fully accomplished, the rest of the war had conspired to do; Piotr's family is much diminished. Of his siblings, only two remain. Of his father's generation, there remains only the uncle who had spent the war in a Cetagandan prison camp and has still not yet made oath to Piotr; Piotr will deal with him when the medical staff are satisfied. But there are cousins and distant branches scattered amongst the Emperor's forces, and he calls them back. If the war's over, he needs them at home. The District is in a disgraceful state. Piotr had let it get that way in the name of beating the Cetagandans, but he doesn't have to allow it any longer.

He marries his brother off to a Voraiken but keeps himself unattached for now. He served well in the war; his Emperor will reward him. Yuri's always favored him, so Piotr is willing to wait. He knows it will be worth it.

When he hears of Gregor, it is to find out that he has, disappointingly, become one of Xav's progressives. Gregor's heading one of the divisions in the Imperial Science Institute and he has his war record behind him to quash anyone who might dare say he must have been a collaborator because of how well he knows his technology. Gregor is making advances at a pace that must impress those who don't know that Gregor isn't inventing anything, just remembering. Or maybe he is inventing, but it's just new methods for things he already knows is possible.

It's not honorable. But Gregor's no longer one of Piotr's officers; Gregor's honor is no longer his concern.



2.

Gregor Vorbarra has invented a weapon that will repel any future invasion, so Piotr puts on his dress uniform and attends the ceremony at the Institute. Piotr stands on the dais, one amongst the heroes of the war, as Yuri congratulates Gregor and his men on protecting Barrayar. Piotr can see through Yuri's formality to the humor beneath. Yuri knows that Gregor didn't invent this. Yuri knows that Gregor brought this from the future to save their lives. There's no genius in taking honor that isn't your own.

Gregor is solemn through the ceremony, like he's thinking the same thing. He accepts the medal pinned to his House uniform and Piotr watches Gregor's subordinates carefully. But they seem in awe of Gregor, not jealous, not exasperated by one Vorbarra honoring another Vorbarra for work that they did. Gregor's going to be appointed the head of the Institute for this; it's good that he has their loyalty.

If Gregor's a hero of the Imperium, then he should be celebrated as one. Piotr drags him into the Yellow Parlor at Vorkosigan house and rewards him with the finest of Vorkosigan wines. Only the best for a Vorbarra hero.

"They think I'm some kind of prophet," Gregor says, sounding disgusted. "I wish Yuri wouldn't mock me like that. He knows."

Yuri mocks everyone. Piotr had grown to appreciate it during his apprenticeship. You need humor when the entire world is falling down around you. "Where did they actually come from?"

"The Betans," Gregor says. "I don't know how long it took them to develop. Once this leaks out, there might be some scientists there who are very confused. I can accept being called a thief. I'm Vor, after all."

He accepts it far more easily than Piotr would, but Piotr isn't the one stealing from the future. "How much do you invent at all and not steal?" he asks. It's an insult, but Gregor is far from the only Vorbarra that Piotr will insult to his face.

"A fair amount," Gregor says. "But it helps that I know how the finished result should look and function. The plasma mirrors were the easiest because I'd actually studied those. We started the jumpship improvements first, but we're still working on those. I think my team has taken them where they didn't originally go, but I'm more than happy to improve the future, not just mimic it."

Yes, Piotr knows all about how well Gregor has tried to improve the future. "What other weapons should I expect to be dragged down to celebrate?"

"None if I can help it." Gregor says, not sounding fully confident that he can help it. "I told Yuri, we've done enough to protect Barrayar. He wants to put me in charge of the Institute, but I told him that, if he does, I'm taking it back to focus solely on terraforming, like the charter on the damned wall says we're supposed to be doing. He told me that was acceptable. I assume he'll be standing up something in military intelligence and take half my teams from me and you'll be dragged down for those ceremonies, but I'm done making weapons now. I wanted to defend Barrayar, not arm an invasion. If I give him everything we had, he's going to take it right to Cetaganda."

Piotr doesn't see how that's a problem. "And?"

"Piotr, what would you do with an eight-planet empire?" Gregor asks, deeply ironic. "Blow it all up? We beat the Cetagandans. If they come back, we can defend ourselves. But they won't, the haut have their own political games to play. They wanted an easy target and we threw them off, and we made it damned expensive for them in the process. They're going to focus on cheaper targets before coming back. And if I'm wrong and they come through the wormholes tomorrow, then we're ready for them. But I'm not going to spend my life arming us for Yuri's paranoia. I'm done. I've defended this planet; it's time to feed it. People will always come up with better weapons; I've given them the best I have. I'm sure they'll work the rest out for themselves."

"And you know this for certain?" Piotr asks. "They won't return?"

Gregor shakes his head. "The war ended three years earlier here. The timelines have diverged too much. The political history of this planet is now completely beyond me. But I promised myself I would avert all the wars that I could. I'm certainly not going to help start new ones."

If the Cetagandans are truly gone, the only war to fight is the one they were fighting before the Cetagandans came, and that one was Vorbarra against Vorbarra, and then the united Vorbarras against the Counts, with the entire planet in the balance. Piotr's sworn to Yuri and he's hoping to be betrothed to Xav's eldest. If those brothers break apart, Piotr's going to be in a very unpleasant position regarding his oath and his honor. Piotr doesn't want to have to start thinking again about how the Vorbarras arrange themselves, on who is loyal to who, if Piotr will have to kill Ezar on Yuri's order. He'd rather have a galactic war than a civil war.

"What was the next war?" Piotr asks.

"Nothing I'm telling you about," Gregor says.

Interesting. But not a question to dwell on now.

Piotr would never sleep with a bastard. It would be disgusting, an insult to his honor. But that's only the story put out about Gregor to those who don't know the truth, and so Piotr allows himself. He allows himself to slip his hands through Gregor's hair. He allows himself to take Gregor to bed. Gregor's been honored today and Piotr, insults aside, can appreciate the gift that Gregor's presence has brought to Barrayar, in this if in no other way. A war ending three years early, indeed.

Piotr hasn't taken it since Ezar had ordered him to his bed during the war. Piotr's willing to admit that he's missed it. There are advantages to having Vorbarras angry at you. They know how to channel it. As with Ezar, Piotr's angry, too. He thinks about the ceremony, about the way they'd celebrated Gregor for his future knowledge, the way that had burned in Piotr's gut. Gregor had given them an advantage in war, yes, but he hadn't done everything he could have. He hadn't given his full honor for Barrayar. Not like Piotr has.

"You didn't save them," Piotr growls to Gregor and Gregor closes his eyes and tips his head back. Piotr takes his hand off of Gregor's cock and replaces it with his mouth.

"I didn't," Gregor says clearly. His hands are behind his back and that's not acceptable. Piotr's not going to debase himself for a Vorbarra who doesn't know his place. This isn't Gregor's penance; it's Piotr's for not saving them himself. He was the General. He was the Count. It was his responsibility. They'd put their hands in his and he had promised his protection in exchange for their obedience. And he had failed them.

Piotr lets his teeth out and Gregor's hips jut forward. Piotr pulls off. "I didn't save them."

Gregor frowns at him, far too serious for what they're doing. "Piotr--"

"This isn't for you," Piotr says. "It's for me."

"You need to be punished," Gregor says, slowly understanding. "And you need a Vorbarra to do it. You want me angry so I'll make you hurt." And then he shrugs. "Very well. Your conditions are acceptable, Count Vorkosigan."

Piotr's never had it laid out for him like that before and it makes him vaguely uncomfortable. Ezar had understood and known what to do without ever having to talk about it. Piotr shouldn't have expected as much from a time traveler, even one who has been here this long. But before Piotr can kick Gregor out of bed, Gregor puts his hands on Piotr's arms and digs his nails in.

"If you're going to accept my orders, you're going to do it properly," Gregor orders him. "No lip. I don't care what Ez-- what anyone else liked." Gregor seems to shudder a little at that, but he throws it off and bends down to bite at Piotr's neck. There's ghosts at Gregor's back, but that's fine. Piotr's dealing with his own ghosts.

Gregor fucks him slowly. It's really nothing like Ezar, who had been known to compare Piotr to a wild horse. Gregor doesn't allow that, his fingers digging deep bruises into Piotr's skin, his orders sharp against Piotr's body. Gregor is far more controlled than Ezar ever was. And he demands far more discipline from Piotr than Ezar ever had. Piotr gets the distinct impression that Gregor is doing him a favor. That instead of his ghosts whipping him into a frenzy, they're enforcing strict discipline to keep the darkness at bay. Piotr will allow it. He doesn't have much of a choice; that's always the appeal of Vorbarras. They take what they want, how they want.

Piotr draws up onto his knees and gives.



3.

They've ruined the bed. Gregor looks aghast at what they've done. His gaze lingers on the red marks from his fingers dotting all over Piotr's body, but foremost on his arms and thighs. Piotr feels more settled than he has in a long time. Even Ezar hadn't forced his submission like that. Gregor had needed that as much as Piotr had. It seems Piotr has yet again provided a personal service to the Vorbarra family.

But Gregor's look is turning more and more concerned, more... almost disturbed, as if what they'd done has finally filtered into his head.

And Piotr remembers, he has no idea when Gregor's from. Did Gregor know him? Who does Gregor think he just fucked? Some mythic hero? Or someone contemporary?

"How far ahead are you from?" Piotr asks. If Gregor had come back from the ending of his Cetagandan War, he might be alive out there right now, some junior Vorbarra out in the countryside, one of Ezar's cousins, perhaps. Someone who would never come to the attention of Yuri.

"Far enough that I couldn't remember how you're related to Dorca," Gregor says, which is no kind of answer. He pushes himself up and starts looking for his clothes. He won't find them. Piotr's servants will have taken them to be cleaned. You never can know what kind of contamination might be clinging from the Institute. Best to be sure.

Piotr opens his mouth to tell him -- if there's one thing every Vor knows, it's how he's related to any Emperor -- but then shuts it. That answer didn't, after all, mean anything. Piotr doesn't think he could list how half the Counts were related to Dorca. That'd been one of Dorca's problems. And it's easy enough to remember how Piotr's related to Yuri, they'll probably even remember that one in the future. "But you know how you're related to Dorca?" he asks.

"Both ways," Gregor sighs, which just proves that he really is a Vorbarra. They marry in about as often as they marry out.

Piotr considers. Gregor looks like Ezar, enough to be his son, not his brother. Ezar positioned himself well in the war and even better with his militia since then. And one of Yuri's sisters is recently widowed. Once she finishes her mourning and her sons are older, it might be the first Vorbarra family match of Yuri's reign. Piotr knows enough about Vorbarra politics; he's been trying to catch Xav's eldest. Xav thinks he can use his daughter to leash Piotr, and Piotr's willing to be caught. He has no intention of ever betraying Yuri. Let Xav think Piotr needs a Vorbarra political on him at all times, in his house, in his bed. Piotr will take the insult and the wife.

"Do you know how Ezar is related to the Emperor?" Piotr asks, meaning either Dorca or Yuri, and Gregor's face shuts down.

"You'll have to excuse me, Count Vorkosigan," Gregor says and leaves Piotr's bedroom, still completely naked. It's no matter. He'll find something.

Piotr rolls over and thinks about families.



4.

Piotr's Vor. He won't send a man somewhere he won't go himself. And so he is the first one to step foot on the irradiated grounds of old Vashnoi, his armsman-commander by his side and monitoring the radiation levels at all times. They're in the best suits they took from the Cetagandans and he has a strict limit from Yuri. He can have his ceremony and his pride, but Yuri needs his balls.

They've even sent a Vorbarra to keep an eye on him. It's like old times.

Vashnoi in person looks exactly like the pictures of it, which is to say, the stuff of Piotr's nightmares. He stays longer than his nerve would allow, because he will not allow himself to show weakness. Only his armsmen see how he shudders as they peel the suit and the harness off of him. They all lost family there. Piotr overhears the youngest ask the armsman-commander if he'd heard the ghosts. Piotr had certainly heard the ghosts, Yelena most prominently. He wonders what she thinks of Olivia.

And so Piotr's in a terrible mood when Gregor Vorbarra takes him to the side to take an independent sample of his blood for the Institute.

"ImpMil won't share?" Piotr snarls.

"ImpMil uses substandard technology because you lot are all more scared of Cetagandans than you are of avoiding actual mutations," Gregor retorts, which is hypocritical. Piotr's heard Gregor talk about mutants. He likes them. He wants to save them all. And if he thinks that Piotr's scared of Cetagandans... Piotr doesn't need to listen to these insults. He's the man who owns the largest graveyard on the planet and he just walked out into it. "If you don't want your children to have three heads, be more grateful."

"Yuri gave me a time limit," Piotr says. He won't be grateful to Gregor for anything. Gregor knew about Vashnoi before it happened. He did nothing to prevent it. He did nothing to save them. He will not allow Gregor to mock him with it, not here, not now. "I stuck to it."

"I gave Yuri a shorter one. You went over mine." Gregor clucks over his readings. "I'm going to get Yuri to let me get gene cleaners from Beta Colony if it takes the rest of my life."

Piotr scoffs. "The Vor have good genes."

"The Vor have the same genes," Gregor corrects. "You don't have to allow Cetagandan tampering to understand that it's better not to give your children hereditary medical conditions if you can help it. And the rest of the galaxy can help it."

Piotr rolls his eyes. "So are you satisfied, or am I going to have to tell my wife that we're using my sperm samples for the rest of the children?"

"ImpMil's already destroyed those," Gregor says, putting away the reader. "Like I said, they have bad technology. But you're in luck, I still recommend children. But you're never to go back."

Once Piotr's done with children, he certainly is going back. He won't allow Vashnoi to haunt him. He won't allow the Cetagandans to defeat him. "I'll take that under advisement," Piotr says. Gregor's face hardens. And, well, Gregor is still a Vorbarra, even if he's a time traveling mutie-lover. "My lord," Piotr adds, completely sincerely.

Gregor shakes his head at him and bends down to check over the rest of his equipment. Piotr looks around. Everyone's giving him space; they all know Piotr's temper.

"Does it get better?" Piotr asks quietly.

Gregor looks up. "Vashnoi? Somewhat. Your personality? Never."



5.

Gregor had said once during the war that Piotr should come to him for answers in fifty years. Piotr had been needling him for answers that Gregor was never going to give and Piotr was certain that Gregor never intended to keep his word. He also never thought too hard that Gregor assumed Piotr would live fifty more years. They'd all been sloppy in the war.

Two hours after they bury Ezar, Piotr finds Gregor in the section of the Imperial cemetery reserved for Emperors.

"I didn't expect it to be the same year," Gregor says. "And it was very nearly the day. It's uncanny. And this even with me warning him about the cancer."

Of all the things for Gregor to have remembered... "Was he your father?" Piotr asks. It's not quite yet fifty years. They've changed Emperors four times, going from Dorca to Yuri to Vlad to Xav and now to Ivan. Piotr has no idea what Xav had told his son. Perhaps the secret is going to die with Piotr.

Gregor sighs. "Grandfather," he admits. Then he smiles slightly. "Congratulations. You're the first one I've said that to since I showed up here."

Piotr gapes, connections forming. "They... they named that boy for you."

"I tried to tell them not to," Gregor says. "I guess I couldn't prevent everything."

They're far enough from Vashnoi that Piotr doesn't punch him for that.

"They buried him over there," Gregor adds, pointing with his chin toward the plot they put Xav into three years ago. And Piotr turns.

"They buried him there," Piotr repeats, carefully.

Gregor has that small infuriating smile on his face and his head is tipped back to the sky. "Emperor Ezar. Ruled, oh, thirty-one years. You put him on it and kept him there."

And Piotr's certain of one thing. "I would never have betrayed Yuri."

"He killed Olivia," Gregor says. "Selig. Catherine. Sonia. Prince Ivan, ah, sorry, our dear Emperor Ivan now. All the children, except for two. You kept Aral. Sonia's son survived as well."

Princess Sonia had never had sons, only daughters. Piotr has five children, not three.

"Two years of war for that," Gregor muses. "He didn't try to kill you that night, you see, because you'd been his apprentice, and for some reason he thought that mattered. I never understood that part until I came here. But then we got rid of the military apprenticeship system, too. Everyone goes to an academy for their entire schooling, not just junior officers for polish. One of the last reforms I made before, it wouldn't even make sense to you. We never conquered Komarr here."

And Piotr gets his breath back, wrestles his mind back from the horrors Gregor's speaking. "You-- Ezar Vorbarra's grandson. Serg was your father, then--"

"Serg died," Gregor says, like nothing matters, and perhaps it doesn't. "I've been the Emperor of Barrayar since I was four."

"Who knows?" Piotr demands.

"You," Gregor says, turning finally to look at him. "Dorca knew. I told Xav some of it, after Yuri died. But never to Yuri and not to anyone else while he was still alive. I couldn't risk making it worse. In my world, they display Yuri's scalp as a warning to Emperors. Don't kill Piotr Vorkosigan's children. I nearly executed your grandson for treason and I had nightmares about that scalp for months. I told Prince Ivan about the scalp, after he demanded to know why Xav was listening to me as he was dying. He thought I was trying for favors I didn't earn. I told him I was making sure Xav died happy. But I didn't tell him the rest. I couldn't, not while Ezar was still alive to die for someone else's treason."

"I'm still alive to die for my treason," Piotr says dryly.

"Mm," Gregor says, non-committal. "You didn't take oaths. But I held yours since I was a child. Your son fought a war for me."

Gregor Vorbarra took his oath and never died to release him. Piotr feels shaky on his feet. There can only be one Emperor at a time, but this one was deposed by nothing other than time. Piotr feels oath-torn and he's never-- it wasn't him who knelt, but it was. If he made oath, he meant it. Piotr's promised his life in service to five different Emperors until their death released him, but never once has he ever specified which life. He's alive, Gregor's alive, and Piotr Vorkosigan swore an oath. He'd been foresworn and he'd never known it. "If you're the Emperor, he damn well should," Piotr says. "And if you executed my grandson, I imagine he deserved it."

Gregor laughs. "Oh, he did, but I pardoned him for it. I wish I still remembered more of his story, it was something only he would ever do." He shakes his head. "Memory's a strange thing. I don't remember why I was so angry, but I remember the way Aral begged. And Cordelia-- I wish your Aral could have met Cordelia."

Piotr's Aral is a constant disappointment. If all it takes to improve him is a love of a good woman, then Piotr can arrange a divorce. If Gregor orders it, he certainly will. "What family was she from?"

"No family. She was Betan," Gregor says. "He met her-- there's a planet. I sketched the route out while I could still remember the fine details. We sent a survey team, once we had them. But the planet was too far, Yuri and Xav thought it was foolish to try to keep it. We sold it to the Escobarans."

Another planet, and they'd, what did he say, they'd conquered Komarr. The man standing in front of him had ruled a three-planet empire since he was a child. And Piotr had once called him a bastard to his face.

Piotr curses his aching joints as he goes to his knees.

Gregor groans. "Piotr, we're in public. You're going to get me executed."

"Then keep your hands behind your back," Piotr retorts. "You must-- you must allow me to apologize."

"Get up," Gregor says and puts his hands under Piotr's arms, forcing him to stand. "I didn't survive this long in this insane timeline just to get killed because Piotr Vorkosigan found his conscience."

"I am deeply--"

"You want to make it up to me?" Gregor asks strangely.

Piotr nods, nearly deep enough for a bow. "Yes."

Gregor is quiet for a long moment. Piotr stands up under the assessment. Then Gregor says, "train Kareen's son."

Piotr hasn't trained an apprentice in ten years and hadn't intended to ever do so again. He's old and he knows it. But he's not going to object to being given an order after having asked for one.

Especially not one given to him by his Emperor.

"He'll need a father figure," Gregor continues, "since the one he has isn't worth the air he breathes. I don't know what young Gregor will end up being, but he's going to need someone to help him get there. His mother will do what she can, but he'll need a patron. If he's got to have an apprenticeship, you're the only one I'd trust with him. Do better with him than with Ezar."

From what Gregor said, what Piotr had done with Ezar ended with Piotr turning Ezar into an Emperor, one who'd ruled longer than any Emperor since Dorca. Piotr's not sure how he could do better than that.

"What was your world like?" Piotr wonders. What world made you, he means.

"Take half the Counts and Ministers and most of the General Staff and then kill them in wars, or kill their fathers, or their grandfathers," Gregor says. "You can blame me for Vashnoi, but I saved your brother and your sister and her children. I saved more people than even I'll know. I ended the war early. I stopped the princes from doing stupid things to impress their friends. I helped Xav enforce his peace. Back home, we once had two wars in a year. Here, there's no cause for either of them. I hardly even recognize the Vor right now." He sighs. "I certainly won't recognize young Gregor. He'll need someone who knows this world, who never knew another one."

"Do you think he'll travel as well?" Piotr asks. What does he have to train this boy to be? A Vorbarra or an Emperor?

"I hope not," Gregor says. "But I should probably prepare a contingency." He looks Piotr over. Piotr endeavors to stand straighter under the scrutiny. "Since one is suddenly being offered."

"Did you have any warning before it happened?" Piotr asks. If there was, if there's something he can train the boy to pay attention to...

But Gregor shakes his head. "The power that sent me back-- I never knew what it was. Dorca didn't believe me, that I'd go back without as much preparation as possible. But I didn't prepare for it. I didn't know it was going to happen. Dorca wanted to know when I'd return and I couldn't answer him. I eventually realized I was never going to. That this was the only world I was going to be in. That I'd never see any of them again. Your Aral, well. He's not the man who stood as my Regent for sixteen years and walked away. You did that. You raised an honorable man out of the ashes of tragedy. And... if young Gregor's going back to that, if that power takes one Gregor Vorbarra in payment for the other one, I need you to do it again. I need you to do better with this child than with your own sons. I need a war leader, because we had the Cetagandan threat as well, we had unrest on Komarr, we were one death -- my death -- from civil chaos. And I need a politician, because Aral won't be around to hold his hand forever. If he's going to go, he needs to be the great general's greatest work." Gregor shakes his head. "But I don't know. I don't know how much of my Aral was you and how much of it was Ezar's influence. I don't know how much of it was winning at Komarr and retreating from Escobar. I don't know how much of it was Yuri and that war. I don't know how much of it was Aral executing an Emperor and then creating another one. But you're the only one I can ask. You're the only one who knows what the risk is."

Piotr breathes in the cemetery air. "How long do I have?" How much time is left for me to obey your orders?

"No one else died when they were supposed to," Gregor says, peeved. "Well, except Dorca. You survived until two years after my majority. I make no promises for your own future, though. Listen to your doctors."

Yes, my liege. "All right," Piotr says, instead of treason. He hasn't felt this thrown since they put Selig into his arms for the first time. He was too soft on his sons, he knows. No wonder he did better when he had a fire to craft Aral. "I'll train the boy, if I make it that far."

"I feel somewhat like my grandfather, asking a Vorkosigan to train up Gregor Vorbarra," Gregor says, looking to the distance. "And like him, I'll never know if you succeed. I'll never know what happens back home, if Aral took it because he had to, if Miles survived. Miles was a mutie," he says, and Piotr flinches. A mutant, wearing his uniform. A mutant, being granted mercy after betraying his Emperor. "Smartest man I ever knew, probably the worst long-term planner. He didn't expect to grow old, you see. He'd be an absolutely terrible politician. And I'll never know if I've condemned him to a slow death in the political arena by disappearing on them all. They relied on me to hold everything together."

"But the Vorbarras," Piotr starts. Why would a Vorkosigan be needed? A Regency was one thing, especially if Aral had a war record behind him and if the Vorbarras all wanted to keep their hands clean. But a Vorkosigan wouldn't be Emperor, couldn't be Emperor. The Emperor's father-in-law, yes, they'd done that twice. But never the Emperor. They aren't traitors. For all that Gregor is painting for him a world defined by Vorkosigan treason, Piotr knows his family. If he'd betrayed Yuri... if he'd done that, it would have been for Xav. It would have been at Xav's order. Piotr's loyal. There's no world left for him if he isn't. If there was another unification war and Piotr had to choose a side the way his grandfather had, and he chose his wife's father, then that's politics. It's not treason. Piotr has been dishonored many times, but he'd never be a traitor.

"The Vorbarras are all dead," Gregor says ruthlessly. "Remember the wars I told you about? I had some distant cousins, I think the closest Emperor they were descended from was Vlad. Vlad le Savante, that is, not Yuri's son. Here, the Cetagandan War cleared out the ranks. Well, back home, those ranks were cleared over and over again. By the time Ezar died, there were only five men who had a better claim than he did. Five. And I was one of them, via descent through my grandmother. That was why Aral was the Regent, because he could either be the Regent or the Emperor. It was a risk Ezar had to take." He looks at Piotr, looking through him. "The Vorkosigans are mostly gone, too. It's just Aral and Miles left now. If my disappearance caused chaos, and they couldn't hold on properly, the Vorkosigans are also extinct."

Piotr's mouth is dry. "So I take it I should train young Gregor well."

Gregor looks wistful. "You're the only one who can, Count Vorkosigan."