“Why are you coming here?” Suzee demanded.

Cheiron shrugged. “It is not my choice exactly. My father insists that if I am to continue to,” he paused and smiled, “be with you then I must write up a full report on your people, the Christa, and the rest of your friends, and also answer whatever other questions he has for me.”

Suzee raised an eyebrow at him warningly. “And this is to see if I’m, what? Worthy of his highness, Prince Cheiron?”

The centaur only laughed at her. “In a way, I suppose.”

Suzee scowled. “Wonderful. As if it isn’t bad enough with Lokaia’s bad news floating around the ship, now I have to deal with being evaluated by my boyfriend.”

Cheiron’s smile faltered. “How is Kola?” he asked quietly.

Suzee’s expression was sad. “She’s had a while to deal with this, so she’s all right now. It’s Radu that’s having some problems with it.”

“Where are they now?”

“They grabbed a Starling and went planetside,” Suzee explained. “The Christa’s going to stay at a stand-still for a week so they can get some time alone.” She shook her head and ran a hand through her hair. “Anyway. When are you coming?”

“Tomorrow, I believe.”

“Tomorrow?!”

Cheiron grinned. “I apologize. I should have informed you sooner, but my father only told me today.”

Suzee rolled her eyes. “Fine, whatever. It’s just you, though, right?”

“As far as I know,” he answered with a shrug.

Suzee sighed exaggeratedly. “I suppose that’s all right, then.”

“Glad you approve.”

“Nervous?” Bova asked, supervising the usage of The Machine (which was the new official name).

Suzee shook her head. “Nope.”

“Should be.”

“Shut up and turn it on.”

Flipping the switch, there was a bright flash of light and a centaur appeared. Suzee grinned brightly, about to throw her arms around him when--

“What the--? Who are you?!”

Suzee was met with the stern gaze of a centaur male. “I am glad to see that my brother’s praises have not been wasted. You are quite polite.” His tone was sarcasm, tinged with annoyance.

“Your brother?” Suzee repeated, mouth in an open ‘o’. “Chester?”

The male resembled his younger brother only slightly. His brown hair was much lighter, his dark eyes almost black and serious. Chester’s frown deepened. “I would prefer you referred to me as Prince Chester, giving me the respect that I deserve.”

Suzee opened her mouth to snap at him when she suddenly realized why Chester was here. This visit would determine how ‘worthy’ Suzee was, and whether or not Cheiron would be allowed to associate with her. Hiding a grumble, Suzee nodded. “Of course, Prince Chester. I apologize.” Suzee steadfastly avoided Bova’s look of outright shock.

“Apology accepted,” the stern centaur replied. “Now, why don’t you show me the rest of this ship so I can begin my report promptly.”

Biting her lip hard enough to bring blood, Suzee nodded and led him out of the team room.

“Why?” Seamus demanded.

“Because your grandmother loves you and wants to talk to you,” TJ informed him. Under her breath, she added, “And as long as she’s yelling at my son, she’s not yelling at me.”

Seamus set his little jaw. “Don’t wanna talk to Gwamma.”

Seth tousled his son’s hair. “No one does, hon.”

TJ smacked him. “Now, stop that!”

Seth rolled his eyes at his wife. “You’re just mad because you have to talk to the Sin-Laws-from-Hell.”

TJ smacked him on the shoulder. “Cut that out! And you wonder where Seamus gets that?!”

Seth shook his head. “No, I don’t. He gets it from me.”

TJ smacked him again and dialed up her mother’s number and stepped back.

Mrs. Ellen Davenport answered the screen, stern face lightening slightly when she noticed her grandson. “Oh, hello, Seamus dear! How are you, darling?”

With a slight roll of his eyes, Seamus mumbled, “Fine, Gwamma.”

The stern looked returned and Mrs. Davenport said, “Now, Seamus, what have I told you about how to address me? You should respect your elders, child. Call me Grandmother.”

“Gwamm--”

“Grandmother.”

“Gwram--”

“Grand.”

“Grandmuzzer.”

“Grandmother.”

“Muzther.”

“Mother.”

“Grandmother.” The small child had obvious difficulty with the long word.

Mrs. Davenport smiled. “Good. What do you need, Seamus?”

Seamus scowled at her. “Don’t know. TJ made me call.”

The scowl returned to his Grandmother’s face as she turned to her daughter. “You allow him to call you by your first name? Theresa James Davenport, have I taught you nothing?”

TJ turned a frown of her own onto her son. “Gee, Mum, I’m not sure.”

“How are you supposed to teach your son respect if you don’t even have him refer to you in a proper name? How are you supposed to--Oh, Seth!” Mrs. Davenport caught sight of Seth as he attempted to hide behind TJ.

TJ smiled smugly as Seth stood sheepishly. “Ah, Ellen. How are you?”

“Well, I’d be much better should my grandson have any sort of sense of respect or mann--”

Rosie popped her head in. “Excuse me, Seth, but you and TJ are needed in the ComPost.”

“Oh, drat it all!” TJ cried, though it was a bit forced. “Whatever for, Rosie?”

“Well, you told me to come in and pull you and Seth away--”

“Thank you, Rosie!” Seth interrupted loudly.

TJ sighed, avoiding her mother’s gaze. “Well, Mum, I suppose we should go. I’ll call you later. Bye.” She clicked the screen off before her mother could say another word.

Seth smiled as he swung the still-frowning Seamus into his arms. “Don’t worry, Teej. We’ve got a few more years until we get home.” He smiled at his son. “How’d you like Grandma?”

“Grandmother,” his son mumbled, annoyed.

TJ frowned at her son. “Seamus, if you can say ‘Grandmother’, you can say ‘Mother’, right?”

Her son paused, staring at his mother for a moment before shaking his head. “No.”

“This is the Command Post.” Suzee scowled at his retreating back when Chester brushed past her to look around.

He fiddled with the crystals before turning back to her with a frown. “Your stations do not even work,” he informed her. “How can you run a proper ship without working stations?”

It was getting more and more difficult not to snap at the man. “They do work,” Suzee said, keeping her voice level so it wouldn’t seem like she was arguing. She walked over to the helm and moved a selection of crystals. When Chester had obviously noticed the change of direction, Suzee hid a smug smile and replaced the Christa on the road it had been on. “The Christa only lets the crew, those she’s bonded with, work the stations. She still doesn’t accept TJ and Seth.”

If this impressed the centaur prince, he was quick to cover the emotion. “Is this all there is to show?” he asked in a bored tone.

Suzee’s lip was running ragged from all of the time she had spent biting it, but she tore at it one more time. “Pretty much,” she said in what she hoped was a perky tone. “I haven’t showed you the team room yet, and that’s where the telescreen is if you’d like to call Cheir--uh, Prince Cheiron or your father.”

He nodded. “Yes, I suppose I should. Take me there,” he ordered.

Suzee’s knuckles were white with rage as she clenched her fists at her sides. “Of course, Prince Chester,” she said as politely as possible through clenched teeth.

The doors to the ComPost slid open as Seamus came scrambling through. He threw himself behind Suzee, latching himself firmly onto her legs. “Aunt Suzee, help!” he cried.

Suzee tried to pick him up, but he had a death grip on her limbs. “What’s the matter, Shay?”

“They try to make me talk to Grandmother!”

Suzee laughed, stifling it when she caught Chester’s disapproving glare. She cleared her throat and gestured to the small human attached to her. “This is the son of TJ and Seth, Seamus Goddard.”

“Seamus Aiden Davenport Goddard,” TJ corrected, walking through the door beside Seth.

“Hey, Cheir--wait, who are you?” Seth demanded.

Chester raised an eyebrow in Suzee’s direction and she sighed internally. “Seth, TJ, this is Prince Chester, Chei--Prince Cheiron’s brother.”

“Oh, it’s nice to meet you,” TJ said, holding out her hand, while raising an eyebrow in Suzee‘s direction.

Chester took it, shaking her hand and nodding to Seth. “It is a pleasure to meet you both. Miss Suzee was about to show me your team room.”

“Are you going to make a call?” Seth asked. “We were going to call my mother.”

Seamus ducked around Suzee’s legs, a large smile on his face. “Gwamma Arrie?” he asked excitedly. “I wanna talk to Gwamma Arrie!”

Suzee looked down at him. “I thought you didn’t want to talk to your grandmother.”

He wrinkled his little nose. “Don’t. Wanna talk to Gwamma Arrie.”

“Obviously the small one is speaking of his other grandmother,” Chester said superiorly. “The mother of his other parent.”

Seamus stared at the centaur. “Where Che?” he demanded.

“Prince Cheiron is my brother,” Chester informed him. “He is at home.”

Seamus hugged Suzee’s legs tighter and looked up at her. “Like Che better. Bring him back.”

Suzee bit her tongue to keep from saying, ‘I wish’ and only smiled. She looked back at TJ and Seth. “You two can call first. We’ll go after you.” She caught Chester’s glare and swallowed. “That is, if that’s all right with you, Prince Chester.”

Seth hid a laugh as Chester nodded. “Yes, of course you may call before us.”

Sympathetically, TJ patted Suzee’s arm and bent to pick up her son. Suzee’s leg was lifted clear off the ground as Seamus refused to let go and TJ pulled. “Don’t wanna talk to ‘Grandmother’!”

TJ sighed, exasperated, while Seth laughed. “You’re not going to talk to your Grandmother, you’re going to talk to Grandma Ariadne.”

Seamus immediately let go, the slingshot effect throwing Suzee to the floor. The human child grinned brightly and hugged his mother. “Yay!” He, TJ, and Seth left for the team room, leaving Suzee and Chester alone.

Mentally grumbling, Suzee picked herself up off the floor and glanced at Chester. “Well, there really isn’t much else to do before they finish their call.”

“Excellent,” Chester said with a nod. “Then you would not mind answering a few questions for me. Would you?”

Her teeth clenched, Suzee nodded. “Of course.”

“Gwamma Arrie!”

Ariadne Goddard’s face broke into a wide smile. “Seamus! How are you, honey?”

The little boy’s face twisted into a scowl. “TJ made me talk to--”

“Seamus!” TJ snapped, exasperated.

Ariadne only laughed. “How are you, TJ dear? My grandson is keeping you on your toes, of course.”

TJ smiled at her mother-in-law. “He does try very hard.”

“And she still rises to the occasion,” Seth added, slipping an arm around his wife’s waist.

“So I assume you’re holding up quite nicely, Seth?” Ariadne asked with a smile.

TJ rolled her eyes. “It’s very easy to ‘hold up’ when you aren’t the punisher in the family.”

“Ah. He gets that from his father,” Ariadne said sympathetically.

“Gwamma Arrie.” Seamus’ voice was barely a whisper when he beckoned for his grandmother to lean towards the microphone so he could speak quietly. “I like you better than Grandmother.”

Ariadne nodded. “Of course you do, dear.”

“Hello, Father.”

Chief Chemor smiled at his eldest child. “Chester. You have something to report already?”

Though Chemor had greeted Suzee himself, Chester thoroughly ignored her. “I do, Father.”

“And? What do you think of Miss Suzee?”

His serious gaze never changing, Chester said, “She is an adequate female but not Princess material. I believe that, as per usual, Cheiron has chosen foolishly.”

Chemor only nodded, while Suzee seethed silently in the corner. “Very well. What is the problem exactly?”

Chester began listing things. “She is imperceptive, overly-obedient, far too quiet, a push-over, a--”

“Okay, now hold it right there!” After an entire day of being just those things, Suzee was ready to snap. She stalked over to Chester and stared him down. “Now, maybe I have been stupid today but don’t you dare think for a second that I am normally like that! I am sharp-tongued, I have an attitude problem, I snap at anything and everything that breathes, I do whatever the hell I want whenever the hell I want and if you can stop me then you are a much braver creature than anyone else in the universe!”

“Miss Suzee--” Chester began, but Suzee interrupted him immediately.

“Hey, did I look like I was finished, ‘cause I’m not!” she snapped. “I have acted as nicely and politely as physically possible today, trying to impress you and your family because for some reason I have yet to fully understand, I am in love with your brother! And if impressing you is what it takes to be with him, well, I had no real problem with acting the exact opposite as I usually would. But if you are going to treat and talk to me this way, then just screw it all! I love Cheiron and I know he loves me, so I don’t really care if you like me! Cheiron knows who I am and loves me, either because of it or in spite of it, I don’t know or care, but he does! And you cannot possibly convince me that that is a bad thing!” Breathing heavily, Suzee glared at them, her anger slowly ebbing away.

Chemor and Chester watched her--Chemor’s gaze amused, and Chester’s blank (as usual). Chemor smiled at Suzee before nodding towards the side of the room. “Son.” Cheiron stepped over beside his father, a scowl on his face.

Suzee rounded on him immediately. “And you! You told me that you were coming here! When exactly were you going to tell me that it was your brother and not you?!”

“As soon as I found out,” he snapped back, annoyed. “I was told that I would be going to visit you and after I had spoken with you, found my room locked and bolted. By the time I was let out, Chester was already gone!”

“Well, who would do a stupid thing like that?” Suzee demanded.

“Actually, I ordered it,” Chief Chemor said, stepping in with a smile. Suzee gaped, suddenly aware of her rudeness. “You see, Miss Suzee, I meant no disrespect to you but I had to insist that an impartial party judge you as fit for my son. I enjoyed his colorful descriptions of you, and knew that if you could impress Chester, then you could impress anyone.” He turned to Chester. “Well?”

The elder prince faced his father with his serious gaze. “Up until now, Father, she had not. I tried to be as infuriating as possible, but she never exploded until this moment. At first I had thought she was unworthy, but now I believe that she is perfect for my own infuriating brother.” His frown lightened slightly as he looked at Cheiron.

His younger brother grinned broadly and turned to Suzee. “That’s the closest to a smile I have ever seen him manage!”

Suzee glared at Chester. “So, you were being annoying on purpose? You’re not actually like that?”

Chester shook his head. “Not usually, no.”

“No, he is just boring,” Cheiron added. He grinned at Chester, but his older brother’s expression never changed.

“So, wait a second,” Suzee began. “Does that mean that it’s okay if Cheiron and I stay together?”

Chemor nodded. “Surely, Miss Suzee.” He smiled fondly at Cheiron who gave him a hopeful expression. “I believe that my son is an excellent judge of character, and if you have convinced Chester, of all centaurs, then you have convinced me and, most likely, the entire Misethian population.” He turned the fond smile onto Suzee, surprising her. “I hope to see you again soon, Miss Suzee.” He put a hand on Cheiron’s shoulder and left the room.

Cheiron glared at Chester, jerking his head towards the door of the team room. Chester merely stood and raised an eyebrow. Glare deepening, Cheiron jerked his head again. Chester didn’t move. Cheiron sighed. “Chester, could you leave us alone for a few moments, please?”

Chester’s blank look softened slightly as he nodded. Before he left, he touched Suzee’s shoulder. “Welcome to the family, Miss Suzee.” Leaving a very confused Yensidian behind, Prince Chester left the room.

“What the hell did that mean?” Suzee demanded of Cheiron.

The centaur shrugged. “I apologize. You must have mistaken me for someone who understood their siblings.” He smiled when she rolled her eyes. “I should go. Send my brother back in one piece, please.”

“No promises.”

“Of course not. I love you, Suzee.”

There was a pause as Cheiron waited expectantly. Finally, Suzee sighed. “Oh, all right. Love you, too, Cheiron.”

“Now that wasn’t so bad was it?” Cheiron asked with a smile.

“Oh, shut up.”