Lucy Kelly

by HeVans to Becky

  She could see some gold sparks out of the corner of her eye and made an effort to tone it down a little. Hopefully, the tourists and other visitors would think of it as ‘special effects.’

  The two guards immediately uncrossed their staffs and stepped aside. Entering the room, Addie saw Natalie dressed up as Princess Malpha, lounging on the Throne.

  Natalie hammed it up in the role of the malicious Malpha, not willing to relinquish her place for a human usurper.

  Addie gave her a flash of her Nam-Nin powers and sent her to her knees. Having Natalie restrained by her guards, Addie then ascended the Throne to hear the petitions of the populace.

  The tourists quickly jumped on the ‘bash Malpha wagon’ and poor Natalie had to kneel there and take it. Addie checked to see that she was okay. This was probably more than she signed on for. She was relieved when Natalie sent her a wink.

  Addie’s courtiers at the door each had a notepad computer. Guests who entered had the option of leaving their name and address to be put on a mailing list for future events – or not.

  The men were actually keeping two lists simultaneously by asking each guest if they wanted to emigrate to HeVan as a bride or merely visit as a tourist. This went on for about twenty minutes, when a young female who had seemed to be resting at the back of the room, woke up and approached the dais.

  She bowed her head once, then stood straight and tall as she spoke to Addie, “My Queen, I am the Seer Cassandra. I urge you to take care in your judgment of Malpha, who has done the people of HeVan such injustice. You stand at a crossroads and the judgment you make will reflect on your rule going forward.

  “Thank you for your attention to my plea,” Cassie said, and then fainted.

  Jaron rushed forward to pick her up.

  “I will take counsel on the words of the Seer,” Addie said hurriedly. From the look on Natalie’s face, she knew that what just occurred had not been part of the original script.

  “Call for the Medical Cluster to see to the health of the Seer,” said Arjun.

  “Guards, escort the Regent to her private chambers. She will be kept there until judgment is rendered,” said Addie.

  Hakor and Makor rushed to get Natalie out of the room so she could help with Cassie. Addie was worried about the girl. Hopefully, she would be alright.

  A little while later, Addie received word that Cassie was okay. At five-fifteen, she appeared in the Diorama Room. She was wearing jeans and a T-shirt, advertising Valerie’s books, on the arm of a man with a smiling face.

  This must be the father, thought Addie, looking him over.

  Natalie had returned earlier, also in plain clothes, to explain the surprise and make sure her newfound cousins weren’t going to get into trouble. Addie and Arjun were quick to reassure them.

  Addie jacked up her powers to get a read on Cassie’s father.

  She didn’t realize she’d gone too far until Arjun sent her a sharp look and people began snapping her picture. As her pregnancy progressed, her powers grew stronger. She was glad she had, though, now she knew what approach to take with Cassie and her father.

  ***

  Becky and all the men from her house arrived at five-thirty that evening. The Nephilim Welcome Dinner event would be starting in one hour. Chances were that a few women would want to check in early. There was an open bar set up in the Grand Ballroom for that purpose. Women with tickets would be allowed in the room at six for drinks and mingling with Valerie and getting books signed. Dinner would be served at seven and then Addie would be speaking to the group right after.

  They also expected that some women would try to bring a guest and had planned for that contingency. They set up a smaller ballroom, the Silver Ballroom, to the right of the Grand Ballroom and put the checkin desk in between. A velvet rope held the invitees in a line along one side of the hallway. Each woman or small group would approach the checkin desk and then be directed to either the Grand or Silver Ballroom.

  They decided there would be less angry attendees if an alternative were offered. A sign stated that all ticket & beverage proceeds were being donated to the CAWC. The only contingency they hadn’t worked out was if a woman with a birthmark arrived with one who didn’t.

  She would have to relinquish her seat in the Grand Ballroom to stay with her friend. If she were matched, her Nephilim would go with her into the Silver Ballroom and the explanations would be delayed, in that case. They all hoped that scenario did not occur.

  Miranda and Becky were running the table with Johanna’s help. Grace and her Ankida, along with all the guys from Becky’s house, were acting as Security, making sure the women were going into the right rooms, and there were no party crashers.

  For the dinner this evening, all of the men had dressed very nicely in shirts and slacks, they saved the costumes for the Diorama Room.

  “Miranda, the servers are in place in both rooms and the music is set up also. I think we can start letting them in, don’t you?” asked Becky.

  “I agree. We don’t want to leave them standing in line too long, since we have to check each woman against our list to make sure she’s the right one,” said Johanna.

  “You’ve got final call, Miranda,” said Becky.

  Miranda looked over at the ten or so women already in line and then told Justyn to let the first ones through.

  Justyn was fully recovered from his wounds. He hadn’t wanted to remain in hiding during this event and they decided it would not be too risky for him to attend. It was unlikely that anyone attending the trial would connect another spectator with the guy manning the rope. Even if they did, they would be unlikely to know he was supposed to be incapacitated.

  By six o’clock, the line held over fifty women. They were processing them as fast as they could. They had split the invitee list into three parts alphabetically, so each helped one or two women at the same time. So far, most of the women who were invited had their invitations with them.

  All of the men, who weren’t working Security, were situated across the hall. Becky went down her list, checking the name of the woman in front of her. She saw the star and picked up her two-way, asking for the men listed to come up. When she saw them eagerly approaching, she turned back to the woman.

  “Maggie, you are one of our lucky winners! Let me introduce you to your Nephilim dinner partners for this evening.

  “This is Hakor,” she said, gesturing to the smiling Nephilim on the left. “And this is his brother, Makor. Grand Ballroom on your left, enjoy your evening!”

  Maggie shook each of the guy’s hands. When they each crooked an elbow, she laughed. Linking arms, they swung into the room.

  Out of the five hundred or so women coming this evening, only sixty or so had been matched. There were enough matches so each table had one matched group amongst other unmatched women. They hoped being able to converse and spend two hours getting to know the men would help keep them calm when they knew the truth.

  Justyn did a double take when he saw Sarah Kline in the line of women. He knew that Becky believed herself to be an only child so this had to be a surprise. After the stunt Miranda and Valerie had worked up with the fake Malpha, he considered it likely that Miranda hadn’t mentioned this to Becky.

  What Justyn also knew was that Miranda did not know of Becky’s collapse at the campgrounds on Wednesday or her being shot on Thursday.

  He picked up his two-way and asked Ishme and Nyal to find replacements for their Security positions and come up to the front right away. Taking another look at the woman in line, he also requested Kai and Ari to come out of the waiting room and bring Markus with them.

  He timed it right. The five men were walking down the hall towards him just as Becky’s look-alike came to the head of the line. Justyn could see that Miranda, Becky, and Johanna were all helping other women, so he turned to smile at the lady in front of him.

  “Good evening. May I have your name, please?” he asked.

  “Hi. I’m Sarah Kline and this is my f
riend, Tammy. I have an invitation but Tammy doesn’t. We’ll be able to buy her a ticket at the door, won’t we?” she asked.

  “Yes. We knew there would be an overflow and set aside a secondary ballroom, the Silver Ballroom, for that purpose. If you are a drawing winner, you’ll both be in the Silver Ballroom. If not, you can either separate or both go into the Silver Ballroom,” Justyn said.

  “What’s the difference?” asked Sarah.

  “Valerie Hudson, Queen Aditya - with her Ankida - and most of the men, will be in the Grand Ballroom. The Silver Ballroom has the same amenities, music, and a cash bar with some hors d’oeuvres being served now. All ticket and beverage sales will be donated to the CAWC to support abused women and children. Dinner will be served in both rooms at seven. Then there will be a presentation in the Grand Ballroom after dinner with speakers, that isn’t available in the Silver Ballroom,” he answered.

  Sarah turned to Tammy and said, “Let’s hope I’m a winner, then!”

  Justyn got her attention once again. “If you don’t mind my asking, do you have a large family, Miss Kline?”

  “Why do you ask?” her tone suddenly suspicious.

  “Because you bear an uncanny resemblance to another lady here this evening, so much so, you could be twins. The only difference that I can see is that your hair is a honey-gold blonde, while hers is so light as to almost be white.”

  Since Sarah had the honey-blonde with a few under-laying black streaks put in just that afternoon, she knew something this man didn’t. She looked over at the five men who were now rapidly walking in her direction.

  “Where is she?” Sarah asked.

  “She’s one of the greeters at the table. In the last two days, she’s had several severe shocks and has collapsed twice. You’ll be able to see each other in just a moment. My fear is that not knowing you, she’ll take one look and have another fainting spell,” said Justyn.

  In front of them, two of the four tall gentlemen, in dark slacks, white shirts and dark jackets with long blonde hair, broke off, and turned towards the greeting table. The other three proceeded to come and stand beside Justyn, effectively blocking their view of the table.

  “Ishme and Nyal are taking Becky into the room down the hall so you can meet each other with some privacy. I’m a doctor, so if needed, I’ll be nearby. These two gentlemen would be happy to escort you and your friend,” said Markus.

  Kai and Ari stood between Markus and Justyn, staring at the vision in front of them. She was wearing the same black dress that Becky had chosen to wear. Where Becky’s hair was a soft with a curly halo, this woman’s was straight with bangs hanging just above her shoulders.

  “Is she sick?” asked Sarah as she stared at two of the men in front of her. They had the most unusual eyes, like the color of the citrine in a necklace her mother had left her, bright yellow-green.

  “No, she’s fine, just highly stressed with her work. She’s been ordered to cut down her hours and take a long vacation to avoid serious medical consequences,” answered Markus.

  “Sounds familiar,” said Sarah under her breath, but Markus heard her and his medical interest spiked.

  He looked over at Sarah’s companion and was struck by her beauty.

  How could I have not noticed her until now? he wondered.

  Justyn, looking over his shoulder, gave them the cue to proceed. He also noticed that Grace had stepped in to cover Becky’s vacated spot at the greeting table. As the group walked off down the hall, he looked at Miranda.

  “Party pooper,” she said.

  Justyn was confused by the words. He made a mental note to ask Grace about it later. In the meantime, he lifted the rope and allowed three new women to pass.

  Over at the table, Grace asked Miranda why she’d called her man a party pooper. When she heard the explanation, she was both shocked and excited for Becky.

  The one thing Becky had always yearned for was family. Grace explained to Miranda, in between guests, what had happened to Becky in the last few days and Miranda was instantly contrite. Having recently gone through her own trauma of her mother passing away, she had an inkling of what Becky felt and was chagrinned at possibly causing her further distress.

  ***

  Becky felt pole-axed. She couldn’t stop staring at the beautiful and poised woman in front of her. The fact that she was Sarah Kline, one of her personal heroes, seemed, in a way, to make it worse.

  Well, I guess we know who the evil twin is here, Becky thought.

  “I was adopted as an infant, and you?” Sarah asked.

  Becky shook her head from side to side, “I don’t like to talk about it.”

  Sarah nodded her head, recognizing a fellow survivor. “I talk about it too much.”

  Becky didn’t see Sarah’s steel beneath her calm façade because she was too busy falling into a well of self-doubt. All those horrible people - bad foster parents, teachers who’d given up and burned-out social workers - they didn’t try hard to reach the sarcastic trouble-maker she’d become.

  Instead, they wrote her off, telling her she wouldn’t amount to much. She would be living on the streets or working the streets by the time she got kicked to the curb, out of foster care.

  Focus Becky, focus! she thought.

  Gathering her own poise, she spoke, “Um, so you’re here for tonight’s event?” asked Becky.

  “Yes, I’m a big fan. I have my invitation. Is it alright that I brought a guest?” asked Sarah.

  “You’re a winner, so I think so. You’ll have to double-check with Miranda at the desk, though,” said Becky. “This is too weird, you know? Stuff like this just doesn’t happen in real life.”

  “How do you know I’m a winner?” asked Sarah.

  Becky merely pointed to Kai and Ari, “They’re yours, your very own Nephilim.”

  Becky was getting a jittery feeling and she needed to take a minute to absorb the shock. However, she also didn’t want to run out of the room like the scared little girl she was inside.

  “Um, why don’t we go ahead and get seated? The dinner service doesn’t start until seven. That way, we can all sit down instead of standing around staring at each other like mannequins.”

  “That sounds like a great idea. I could use a drink,” said Sarah.

  “You said it, Sister…” Becky muttered - then stopped.

  When everyone realized what she had said, they all burst into laughter. It was just what they needed to break the ice.

  Becky knew a lot about Sarah Kline - how using family money, she’d started up a company in Silicon Valley and within five years, was a multi-millionaire.

  The latest edition of ‘Wired’ magazine had a story about her company. After it had its IPO, she and her partner had gone from millionaires to billionaires and were now quoted on the stock exchange. Becky’s accomplishments were nothing compared to Sarah’s accomplishments.

  Still keeping up her front while her gut churned, she turned to Sarah, “Hey, I didn’t realize it until now, but we’re wearing the same dress. Did you buy it on Tuesday?” At Sarah’s nod, Becky said, “No wonder the saleslady knew right away what would look good on me. She and the others gave me the strangest looks.”

  “Did you have lunch downtown near that Eritrean place on Tuesday?” asked Sarah.

  “Yeah. It’s right next door to the Japanese place.”

  “That explains my waiter’s reaction. He was staring out the window with the strangest look on his face,” said Sarah.

  They quickly rehashed over that day and realized they’d missed each other by minutes several times. By then, they had reached the greeting desk between the two ballrooms.

  “Miranda,” said Becky, “this is Sarah Kline, who appears to be my long-lost twin sister and her friend Tammy…?”

  “Hunter,” said Tammy. “But unlike Sarah, I don’t have a ticket.”

  Miranda took one look at her and then at Markus standing nearby, he’d never strayed far from Tammy.

  She gave him a
n imperceptible nod and then turned to Tammy. “That’s all right, dear. Markus is free, he can be your escort for the evening. The two of you have my seal of approval.

  “Under the circumstances, Becky, you’ll need to do a little table re-arranging. Why don’t you have the staff simply set up one of the extra tables at the back of the room?” suggested Miranda.

  “I’ll take care of it,” said Ishme, striding off towards the ballroom.

  He could see that something was wrong with Becky. She was not acting precisely the way she normally did. He hesitated to speak to her about it because they were with others and also, because he wasn’t a hundred percent sure. They’d been together for such a brief time.

  In order to give Becky and Sarah time to get acquainted, instead of the men sitting on either side of them, putting two men between them, they sat them side by side. This put Tammy on the opposite side of the large round table. Ishme and Nyal sat on her left and Markus, Kai and Ari on her right.

  Markus quickly took advantage and began a low-voiced conversation with Tammy. He knew the other four men were completely engrossed in watching their women. He should know, he was completely engrossed in Tammy.

  Addie and Grace each sent over several bottles of champagne and came by to say their hellos and be introduced.

  Cassandra and her father arrived just before seven, so Addie and Grace left to greet them and take them up to the head table to be seated. They would be taking Ishme and Nyal’s original places.

  The toasts, congratulations and exclamations went on and on. Through it all, Becky kept comparing herself to Sarah and making herself the loser. This continued even through dinner and dessert. She and Sarah barely had an opportunity to exchange more than small talk. This wasn’t the right venue for a long heart-to-heart talk, anyway.

  Suddenly, right before the presentations, Becky couldn’t stand it anymore, so she excused herself from the table. She dissuaded anyone from coming with her, saying she wanted a brief word with Jalen before the next phase of the evening commenced.

  She walked over to Jalen and asked him for a moment of his time. The two of them stepped out into the hall and then across to some chairs along the opposite wall.