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I woke at half past six the next morning. I usually shared a bedroom with my three oldest sisters, but after a late night working at Mojay’s Bar I slept on a mattress in the cupboard-sized room where my mother stored the linen. In theory, that meant I wouldn’t be disturbed when the rest of my family got up at six o’clock, and could slumber on until my lookup alarm went off at eight. In reality, something always woke me up before then.
On this particular morning, what woke me up was a small foot treading painfully hard on my stomach. I shot upwards into a sitting position, grabbed the offending foot, and shoved it aside.
“What the chaos are you doing in my cupboard?”
“We can’t find Tellon Blaze,” said one twin.
“We’ve looked everywhere else,” said the other.
I yawned and rubbed my eyes. The only Tellon Blaze I knew was the legendary hero who fought the chimera back in the twenty-sixth century. I was sure I’d have noticed if he was sharing my cupboard. “Who is Tellon Blaze?”
The twins gave me matching snub-nosed, reproachful looks. One of them was a boy and the other was a girl, but at 6 years old it was still hard to tell them apart.
“Tellon Blaze is our panda mouse,” they chorused. “Someone left the cage open.”
“Oh.” Panda mice were popular pets. As well as being impossibly cute, they only needed water, a few fresh leaves, and an old shoe to keep them happy.
I’d known the twins had a panda mouse, but last week they’d been calling it Fru Fru. I didn’t bother asking why Fru Fru had suddenly had a name change to Tellon Blaze, just crawled to the end of the mattress where I’d left my shoes and tipped them upside down.
There was the distinctive mooping sound of a displeased panda mouse, and Tellon Blaze tumbled out onto my mattress. The twins screeched their delight, scooped up the legendary hero of humanity, and carried him off to his cage.
I yawned. There didn’t seem much point in trying to get back to sleep now. I was working out what day it was, and which chores I’d be doing, when I remembered the events of yesterday. I’d agreed to meet Rodrish Jain and see his farm this morning!
A weird, fluttering feeling hit my stomach. I’d plenty of experience of turning down marriage proposals, but accepting one was entirely new territory. I knew the standard routine, every girl did, but the fact Rodrish Jain was the son of one of the Founding Families of Miranda complicated things.
I tried to thrust that thought aside while I got washed and dressed, only to have it bounce back and hit me in the face when I looked in the mirror. I wanted to make myself especially attractive for Rodrish Jain today, wear something flattering instead of my everyday plain navy or brown clothes, but everyone would start asking questions if I wore my best clothes on a school day.
I pulled a face at my reflection, battled to imprison my unruly hair in its plait, and headed downstairs to the kitchen. All the rest of my family were sitting at the table, finishing eating their breakfasts. I helped myself to eggs and a piece of bread. There were several conversations going on at once, the baby was trying to join in by repeating the word “mush” over and over again, and the twins were furtively kicking each other under the table. There was no point in waiting for a quiet moment, so I made my announcement in my loudest barmaid’s voice.
“When I was coming home last night, I saw Captain Koulsy Mobele camping by the stream in our almond field.”
There was instant silence from everyone except the baby. “Mush,” he shouted, obviously enjoying the sound of the word. “Mush, mush, mush!”
Father stood up. “You’re sure it was Captain Mobele? Falling Rock Settlement sent out a message saying he’d left their area, but they thought he’d gone up river.”
“I’m sure,” I said. “I saw the medals on his jacket.”
“It’s best if the Mayor contacts the Military about this. I’ll give her a call.” Father took his lookup from his pocket, and tapped at it as he walked out of the room.
Mother stood up as well. “It’s a pity we’ve only got yesterday’s bread.”
“Can we go and see Captain Mobele?” asked one of the twins.
“Certainly not!” said Mother. “None of you younger ones are to go anywhere near the almond field while he’s camping there.”
“Why?” asked the other twin.
“Because Captain Mobele doesn’t want to talk to you.”
“Why?” chorused both the twins.
My eldest brother stood up. “Because he doesn’t want irritating brats constantly asking him ‘why, why, why.’ Quiet now, twins. You’ve got chickens to feed before you go to early shift school. Chore time, everyone.”
There was a clatter of chairs as my other brothers and sisters got to their feet and followed my eldest brother out of the kitchen door. Only the baby, the toddler, and the 4-year-old were left at the table now. Mother would be expecting me to care for them all morning.
I moistened my lips before speaking. “Mother, can Odette take care of the babies this morning? There’s something I need to do.”
Mother put a small loaf of bread and a bottle of milk into a lunch pail. “I’m sure whatever you want to do can wait until another day. I need Odette to help me catch up with the laundry this morning.”
“This can’t wait until another day.” I could feel myself blush hot with embarrassment. “I’ve promised to go and look at a farm.”
Mother had just picked up one of our small, round, homemade cheeses. She stood perfectly still for a moment, holding the cheese poised over the lunch pail. “Well, that’s different.”
She added the cheese to the contents of the lunch pail, and turned to smile at me. “You’ve made up your mind at last then. Is it the Sozanski boys?”
I was startled. The Sozanski boys had been at the top of my list of potential husbands for months, but I’d never said a word to Mother about them. “I can’t tell anyone who it is until I’ve seen the farm and made my decision.”
Mother laughed. “Amalie, we both know you’ve already made your decision. Lisbet or Odette might rush into going to look at a man’s farm on impulse and then turn the man down, but you wouldn’t. You’re my cautious, responsible daughter, who thinks things through before you do them. You wouldn’t have agreed to look at a farm unless you were very sure you were going to accept the offer.”
She paused. “You won’t get any unpleasant surprises today. The Sozanski boys came to Miranda as small children and have been friends of Henri for years, so you don’t have to worry about them having dark secret pasts on other worlds. You know exactly what their farms will be like too. The community service rules insist all the new farms have an identical amount of land, a reliable water supply, a wooden cabin, and the first field ready ploughed. The Sozanski boys have only had their farms for a year, so they won’t have been able to do more than get a few extra fields into cultivation.”
I frowned. “I don’t know why you’re so sure I’ve chosen the Sozanski boys.”
“I just said you’re my cautious daughter, so you’ll want to make a safe choice when it comes to marriage, and there isn’t a safer choice than those two brothers. Your only possible worry is the issue of marrying both of them. It’s true that some boys rush into being team husbands without thinking through the complications, so the marriage doesn’t last, but you know the Sozanski boys have been planning to be team husbands for years. They arranged with community service to get neighbouring farms, and had their cabins built right next to each other on the boundary line so they could easily connect them together.”
She shrugged. “You’ve always been a sensible, practical girl. The Sozanski brothers are a sensible, practical choice. Am I right or wrong?”
If I told Mother she was wrong about the Sozanski brothers, she’d keep guessing. “I want to follow the custom, and not say who it is until I’ve accepted the offer.”
Mother sighed, and put two boiled eggs in the lunch pail, along with a few of the sweet-flavoured flat cakes she’d made yesterday. “Can you take the food to Captain Mobele on your way to the portal, Amalie?”
“Of course.” I stood up and took the lunch pail from her.
“Perhaps you could put some ripe fruit in the pail for him as well. Just tell me one thing before you go. Do you think your father and I will be happy with your choice of husbands?”
I held back a laugh. “Oh yes. I’m sure you’ll be very happy.”
I hurried out of the kitchen door before she could ask any more questions.