by Amy DuBoff
“I totally agree but you’ll be fine,” Wil said and nodded to the attendants.
The attendant on the right whispered something into his jacket lapel and then stepped forward to grab one of the door handles simultaneously with his comrade. In one motion, the two men pulled the doors open.
Lively sounds of the party filled the hall at full volume as the doors opened. Raena gasped when she saw the magnificent room with crystal chandeliers and towering windows overlooking the gardens still bathed in twilight. Conversation ceased as the guests saw them standing at the top of the stairway leading down to the main ballroom. The twenty-piece orchestra playing on the right side of the room suspended their music as Reinen stepped forward from the crowd and climbed the stairs.
“Esteemed guests,” Reinen began with a grand sweep of his hand over the hushed audience. “Thank you for joining us on this momentous occasion. The last time my family was gathered here, I was introducing you to Williame when he was just a young man. Now, I have the honor of formally introducing a new generation of Sietinens as heirs to our Dynasty. First, is Jason Sietinen-Alexri, a son born in the Sietinen tradition.”
Jason stumbled forward next to Raena, as though he’d been pushed. Reluctantly, he descended the stairs under the scrutinizing eyes of the audience.
“But, we were granted a great fortune this generation,” Reinen continued. “We were also given a great-granddaughter, Raena—a twin to Jason.”
Raena felt a hum of energy around her and a gentle prodding at her back. All right, I’ll take the hint. She stepped forward and smiled politely at the audience. Several young men around the room concentrated on her and began navigating the audience to get to the front row. Oh no… She managed to hold her poise as she descended the stairs in her heels and long gown, stopping four steps from the bottom with her brother.
“Jason and Raena are now sixteen years of age,” Reinen stated, “and I am thrilled to welcome them as formal members of this family. I’m glad we can all celebrate here this evening. Please, enjoy the party.”
The audience clapped while Reinen bowed his head and descended the stairs.
“Was that just a polite way of saying ‘come and get ’em while they’re still single’?” Raena whispered to her brother.
“We’re doomed,” he replied in a hushed voice as three young women in overly revealing gowns stepped forward from the crowd.
“Good luck.” Raena started to plan a path toward the buffet line on the left side of the room that would take her around the guests she saw eyeing her from afar, but before she could move a young male voice called out to her from the left.
“May I get you a drink?”
Raena turned to see that the owner of the voice had refined features and fair hair with brilliant green eyes. He looked to be in his late-teens, though it was hard to tell. Had he approached her in a hallway at school, she probably would have dropped everything to talk to him, but after her run-in with the servant only a few minutes before she wasn’t really in the mood for flirting. “I don’t really drink,” she replied.
“Anything?” the young man questioned with a charming upturn of his lips. “They have more than wine, you know. Some sparkling juice, maybe?”
At least holding a glass will keep me from fidgeting with my hands. “All right,” Raena yielded.
Jason flashed her a wide-eyed plea for help as she passed by while the three young women descended on him.
She gave him a helpless shrug and followed the blond man toward the bar.
“I’m Elon,” he turned to say to her. “I’m heir to the Gaelani Dynasty in the Fourth Region.”
“Nice to meet you,” Raena said, trying to remember Tararian geography from the instructional videos over the past several days at Headquarters. “It looks like a lovely archipelago.”
“Yes, quite nice this time of year. Our estate is on one of the islands toward the Alarian Sea.”
I have no idea where that is. “Great.”
“Two aerated camillas,” Elon ordered when they reached the bar.
The bartender poured two glasses of a light purple sparkling liquid and placed the glasses on the bar top.
Elon grabbed the two flutes and handed one to Raena. “Cheers.”
“Cheers,” she said and took a sip. The effervescent liquid had a dry grape flavor and tickled her nose.
“So,” Elon said, leading her toward an unoccupied area by the wall, “we hadn’t heard anything about you until this invite three days ago.”
“Yeah…” Raena stared at her glass, “we grew up on Earth.”
“That’s strange,” Elon replied. “Why would you live there?”
“Well, TSS Headquarters is right there so it made sense.”
“Oh, right, the TSS…”
Raena detected a touch of disdain in his tone. “What do you have against the TSS?”
“Oh, it’s just so on the fringe compared to the rest of the Taran people. I never understood how your family became so involved.”
“I’m not entirely sure how it got started, either,” Raena admitted. “This is still all new to me.”
“Well, I’d be happy to help acquaint you,” Elon said, inching closer to her.
Raena took a large gulp from her glass. “I think I’m good.” She looked for an escape. Ten meters away, Jason was backing away from a group of seven young women who didn’t look like they would give up without a fight.
As she scanned the room, Raena also noticed that three other young men aside from Elon were watching her movements, seemingly waiting for the right opportunity to pounce. As soon as I step away, I’ll be surrounded.
Desperate, she looked around for her parents. However, she couldn’t see them through the hundreds of guests. She was on her own.
Raena took a calming breath and put on her more charming smile. “Thank you for the drink, Elon. I should probably go mingle, being one of the guests of honor and all.”
He was almost successful in hiding his disappointment with a slight bow of his head. “Of course. I hope we have the chance to speak again soon.”
While she pivoted, Raena calculated the trajectory of the other suitor’s paths and set a course that should necessitate only one deflection while on her way to her brother’s position. Across the room, she caught Jason’s eye and they silently synchronized their plans.
The suitor closest to Raena spotted his opening and approached. Simultaneously, Raena set out in the opposite direction like she hadn’t seen him. The path took her on a course dangerously close to the second suitor. However, that also meant she was in direct line of sight for the third suitor, as well. While the second and third sized each other up from a distance, she darted behind a group of aristocrats around her grandparents’ age.
A moment later, Jason dashed around the group to join her. “This is complete madness.”
“Too much attention for a change?” Raena asked with a raised eyebrow.
“Oh yeah, you seemed like you were having a great time with ‘Slick’ over there.”
“His name is ‘Elon’,” Raena corrected, “but yeah… I think I now know how a sheep feels at auction.”
“Don’t devalue yourself. You’re at least on the same level as a golden egg-laying goose,” her brother jested.
“Very funny.” Raena sighed and analyzed the room. “I’m not sure how we’re supposed to get to know anyone in a meaningful way in this setting.”
“This isn’t for us to get to know anyone. I’m pretty sure this whole party is just to show off the newest inventory—us. Anyone interested after the show and tell can begin submitting their bids in the form of political alliances or business partnerships as soon as this event is over.”
She frowned. “That sounds incredibly archaic to negotiate business deals with marriage. I thought this culture was advanced.”
“Maybe archaic on the surface, but you’ve heard the talk over the last few days—everything in Taran culture is driven by genetics. Blending two
families makes a deal official on the genetic level,” Jason pointed out.
Raena scowled. “That is profoundly disturbing when you put it in those terms.”
“And given those terms,” a woman said from behind them, “it’s not surprising your grandfather left.”
Raena spun around to face the speaker, a woman with gray hair and hazel eyes. “Hi,” Raena greeted. “And you are?”
“Krista,” the woman replied. “Your great-aunt. Kate’s older sister.”
“Oh, she hadn’t mentioned you,” Raena continued. “Or any extended relatives, for that matter. I guess it hadn’t come up yet.”
Krista nodded. “That doesn’t surprise me. I normally sit these kinds of affairs out, but curiosity finally got the better of me when I heard you were coming.”
“I wish the invite had been optional for me,” Jason muttered.
“Oh, what I’d give to have all the possibilities of youth ahead of me again,” Krista said, admiring them. “But fate has a way of turning on you sometimes.”
“Yeah, I never would have guessed we’d be here,” Raena agreed as she looked out over the crowd.
Krista smiled. “And none of us expected there’d ever be anyone like you.”
“Yeah, our uniqueness has been pretty well established,” Jason said. “Personally, I’d like to see a return to normalcy for a few minutes to catch my breath.”
“Oh, you still have no idea what’s coming,” Krista murmured. “My little sister has always been a dreamer. It wasn’t until she met Cris that things began to fall into place. But, the two of them with you—well, you just might be able to accomplish the impossible.”
“You mean… the thing,” Raena said, connecting the dots about the revolution her parents had mentioned. “Yeah, I’m still not clear on the details.”
Krista nodded slowly. “In time. In the interim, know you will always have Vaenetri’s support.”
“Thanks?” Raena said, still not entirely sure what her great-aunt meant underneath her carefully chosen words.
With a slight bow of her head, Krista disappeared back into the throng of guests as quietly as she’d approached.
“That was weird, right?” Jason asked as soon as she’d gone.
“Oh yeah.” Raena looked down at her empty glass. “Go to the bar with me?”
“That requires leaving our hiding place.”
“Apparently it’s not that hidden if Krista found us,” Raena pointed out, “which means someone else is running interference for us.”
“Yeah, you’re right. This was way too easy.” Jason scanned the room looking for an explanation.
Raena did likewise. After ten seconds, she spotted their security fence. Their parents and grandparents had set up a semi-circle on the other side of the older guests Raena and Jason had hidden behind. Whenever an apparent suitor tried to approach, one of the Agents would stare at them—unmoving and without speaking—until the person backed away. Apparently glowing eyes were enough of a deterrent. That’s actually pretty badass.
Jason caught on to the setup at the same time. “All right. The bar should be safe for a few minutes.”
They carefully circumnavigated the group of party guests and headed toward the bar. In her peripheral vision, Raena saw her parents adjust their positions to keep the buffer wall intact.
She stepped up to the bar. “Two effervescent cam…”
“Camillas, my lady,” the bartender completed for her.
“Yes! That’s the one,” she acknowledged with a smile.
The bartender turned to prepare the drinks.
“What is it?” Jason asked.
“Sort of like a non-alcoholic champagne, I think.”
The bartender placed two flutes on the countertop and Raena grabbed them, handing one to her brother. “Thank you,” she called to the bartender as she searched the room for a possible hiding place that wouldn’t seem too much like overt avoidance of the guests. “Maybe if we—”
Before she could complete her thought, a middle-aged woman pulled away from a nearby group of older guests and thwarted Raena and Jason’s escape.
“Looks like you two finally broke free,” she commented. “They’re persistent, aren’t they?”
I wonder who she is? “Yes, I’m trying my best to stay out of sight.”
The woman looked them over from head to foot. “It would be difficult for either of you to be lost in a crowd. It looks like your family is keeping the worst at bay.”
“Yes, thankfully. This is all so new.” Raena eyed the woman, curious about her casual regard for them.
“Ah, of course,” the woman nodded. “Your early years spent on Earth. So very quaint.”
“It’s more advanced now than you may realize,” Jason said in their home’s defense.
“Perhaps.” She patted her graying blond hair. “I suppose your absence here can be forgiven, considering yours parents’ ties to the TSS.”
“Living on Earth did make for a reasonable commute,” Raena said and took a sip from her glass.
“I can’t imagine what that must have been like—growing up with a war hero,” the woman commented.
“He never talked about any of that,” Raena said slowly.
“Yeah, it wasn’t until a couple of days ago that we even knew our parents were in the military,” Jason added.
The woman’s eyes widened. “He’s incredibly famous. Not just for the war, but the independent jump drive, too.”
“The what?” Jason asked.
Raena thought for a moment. “Does that have something to do with navigation?”
“Yes,” the woman said. “I’m surprised you haven’t heard more about it. Your father cracked the code for the greatest scientific advancement in generations.”
“He’s been pretty reluctant to talk about himself,” muttered Jason.
“Well, I suspect you’ll be hearing a lot more from other people,” the woman continued. “He’s probably the most famous person alive. At sixteen he solved the equation to finally enable precise subspace travel without beacons, and he went on to command the TSS to victory in a war that most of us didn’t even know was going on until it was almost over.”
Jason glanced over at Raena. “Wait, he was in command of the TSS?”
The woman nodded. “That was my understanding anyway.”
Then why is he just an Agent now? Everyone at Headquarters did seem to treat him like he was someone of even greater authority. “I guess we have some more to talk about.”
“No joke,” her brother agreed.
“There you are!” Raena heard her mother say from behind.
Saera slipped through the crowd to stand between Raena and Jason. “Hello, Marilyn. Nice to see you.”
Marilyn inclined her head. “Saera, you look well.”
“It’s been since the wedding, hasn’t it?” Saera took Raena gently by the arm and guided her backward. “Well, we’ll have to catch up sometime. I’m afraid I need to steal these two for a while.”
Raena and Jason were pulled back past several guests into an open space near the center of the room that her parents and grandparents seemed to be patrolling. “What was that about?” Raena asked.
“Marilyn Talsari is no friend of ours,” Saera replied. “Her brother is Head of the Dynasty and has expressed on numerous occasions how much he detests ‘our kind’.”
“That phrasing tells me everything I need to know,” Raena said with a scoff.
“Exactly.” Saera looked around the room. “I hope you don’t mind us running interference for you.”
“Are you kidding?” Jason exclaimed. “I think they’d eat us alive if that would be profitable. In three minutes they were already trying to figure out my net worth under various investment scenarios.”
Raena shrugged. “Elon didn’t seem so bad. At least not at first. It was kind of weird when he offered to show me around.”
Her mother nodded. “That was good instinct to get out when you did. The idea
is to get you alone with them where there are no witnesses for what you discuss. Then they can say anything and if you deny it you’ll lose face.”
“And you didn’t warn us about that?” Raena questioned vehemently.
“We never would have let it go that far—we were watching all the exits. I wanted to give them the benefit of the doubt, but the fact of the matter is that you’re both far too big of a prize for anyone to play it safe. Sietinen is the ultimate alliance to lock down through an official joining of dynasties.”
Raena shook her head. “What happened to getting to know someone and seeing if you even like each other?”
“What do you think this party was supposed to be for?” Saera raised an eyebrow.
“This is one night. And we’re sixteen!” Jason hissed.
“The idea is to find someone you like, the parents vet the pairing, and if it’s mutually beneficial then a formal betrothal can ensue,” Saera explained. “Anything like dating would come later on, and a marriage wouldn’t be for years. This is all a long game.”
Raena crossed her right arm across herself as she held the glass in her left hand. “I don’t like this.”
“That’s why we’re keeping them away from you,” her mother assured her. “If there’s anyone you want to talk to, feel free. But, I don’t buy into this system and I won’t let anyone force you to be a part of it.”
“Won’t our great-grandparents be upset?” Jason asked.
“We don’t owe them anything. There are heirs for two generations—you, as the third, can take your time finding any partner that makes you happy.” Their mother beamed at them. “Besides, I’m not quite ready for you to be grown up yet.”
Raena smiled back. “We’re not going anywhere.” She swirled the remaining contents of her glass. “What are we supposed to do for the rest of the night, then?”
Saera got a glint in her glowing eyes. “Would you like to meet our secret co-conspirators in that revolution we’re planning?”
Jason perked up. “That actually sounds kinda fun.”
Raena nodded. “I’m game.”
“All right.” Saera glanced over her shoulder and nodded to Kate. “I’m going to hand you over to your grandmother. She’s kind of the master behind this whole thing—schmoozing ability off the charts.”
