Dragon's Honor - Kij Johnson [75]
“Then we had best begin promptly,” Worf said.
The Green Pearl’s hysterical tears had given way to softer, more subdued sobbing, but that didn’t make Beverly feel any better. Yao Hu’s unexpected revelation had left Beverly feeling more than a little conflicted. Every maternal instinct in her body resisted the idea of forcing a young woman to marry a man she did not love; on the other hand, the future of the entire Dragon Empire depended on the wedding going off as planned. Beverly didn’t know what to do—or think.
Currently, the bride-to-be was wrapped in the solicitous embrace of her future daughter-in-law, who appeared genuinely distressed by the other girl’s plight. To Beverly’s surprise, and considerable relief, Hsiao Har had proven both helpful and sympathetic during the ongoing crisis; apparently, there was a good heart beneath the girl’s bratty mannerisms. Neither Beverly’s gentle questioning nor Hsiao Har’s heartfelt entreaties, however, had succeeded in persuading the Green Pearl to divulge the name of her true love. In fact, the Pearl had not really said anything at all since confessing her true feelings about the wedding; she had simply curled herself up into a tight little ball amid one of the many piles of pillows spread about the chamber. She looked like a tiny green figure lost amid a sea of pink. Her quiet sobs broke Beverly’s heart.
To be honest, Beverly wasn’t sure she really wanted to know the name of the girl’s secret sweetheart. There had to be terrible penalties involved no matter how innocent their relationship had been—and, judging from the Pearl’s obvious sexual naďveté, their romance had to have been pretty darn innocent. Even still, Beverly had enough on her mind already without having to worry about getting some foolhardy young man exiled or worse. But how was she going to get to the bottom of this without exposing the man’s identity? And should she be probing this issue? Hadn’t she done enough harm already?
It was all too much for her. She couldn’t divorce the big picture—the treaty and the G’kkau—from the heartrending spectacle of the anguished girl among the pink pillows. She knew what Jean-Luc would say: The Prime Directive prevents us from imposing our own views of love and romance on another culture’s marital customs. Besides, the greater good of the entire Dragon Empire depended on the Green Pearl’s marriage to the Dragon-Heir; even discounting the all-too-real threat of the G’kkau, the marriage would also bring peace to the Empire after decades of civil war. How did the heartbreak of one young woman stack up against all of that?
Still, she was a doctor first and a Starfleet diplomat second; was she supposed to just ignore Yao Hu’s suffering? “Damnit, Jean-Luc,” she muttered angrily. “This is more than I bargained for.” She needed advice from someone she trusted, someone who would be sure to take the girl’s feelings into consideration, someone who could counsel her through this tangled emotional mess.
She needed Deanna.
“Hsiao Har?” Beverly crossed over to where the two girls sat hugging each other. Yao Hu was still lost in her grief, but the Heir’s daughter looked up in response to Beverly’s voice. “I need to have a private conversation with someone. Do you think you can manage on your own for a few minutes?”
Confusion marked the older girl’s features. “But you cannot leave the harem,” she said. “The Eyes of the Dragon guard the only exit.”
“No, no,” Beverly explained. “I’m not going anywhere. I just need to talk to somebody via my communicator. Do you understand?”
Hsiao Har nodded. The Green Pearl appeared completely oblivious of the rest of the world. Content that the situation had at least stabilized for the time being, Beverly left the girls and located the entrance to a private bathroom adjacent to the larger chamber. Like all of the Green Pearl’s domain, the walls