Roughly -- and I was on the way to finishing the second glass by that time.... You know he tried to leave without saying goodbye? The Bothari-Jezeks caught him and he had to make a speech. [faint reminiscent smile. of course Miles had told the whole story in grand Naismith style, but he wouldn't have misrepresented anything, especially with Greg right here on the ship with them.]
He'd figured it out from a roll of parchment Vorpatril saw on the way to us. The way he told it, his father's enemies had cooked up treason charges for him, and killed the messengers so he wouldn't know he was wanted on Barrayar. Along with what would have happened if they'd pulled it off. [rubs forehead and takes a drink of the water. some of the details have slipped; it wasn't something Bel had expected to have to report on. but even hung-over, it's their nature to report clearly.] Somehow it was changed to a charge of intent rather than fact, which -- [a grin; that had been the best part of the story--] he refuted by showing up just in time to make a grand entrance and send them all off with their tails between their legs, and then explain the whole thing to you in private. Once the intent was disproven, the fact.... [a somewhat sheepish look, having been an enthusiastic element in the fact] could be fixed by making us your army instead of his. Which, of course, we were not to know.~ But I gathered he was well pleased it worked out that way, even if he'd had no personal stake in it.
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Roughly -- and I was on the way to finishing the second glass by that time.... You know he tried to leave without saying goodbye? The Bothari-Jezeks caught him and he had to make a speech. [faint reminiscent smile. of course Miles had told the whole story in grand Naismith style, but he wouldn't have misrepresented anything, especially with Greg right here on the ship with them.]
He'd figured it out from a roll of parchment Vorpatril saw on the way to us. The way he told it, his father's enemies had cooked up treason charges for him, and killed the messengers so he wouldn't know he was wanted on Barrayar. Along with what would have happened if they'd pulled it off. [rubs forehead and takes a drink of the water. some of the details have slipped; it wasn't something Bel had expected to have to report on. but even hung-over, it's their nature to report clearly.] Somehow it was changed to a charge of intent rather than fact, which -- [a grin; that had been the best part of the story--] he refuted by showing up just in time to make a grand entrance and send them all off with their tails between their legs, and then explain the whole thing to you in private. Once the intent was disproven, the fact.... [a somewhat sheepish look, having been an enthusiastic element in the fact] could be fixed by making us your army instead of his. Which, of course, we were not to know.~ But I gathered he was well pleased it worked out that way, even if he'd had no personal stake in it.