No.” The denial was as flat and hard as I could make it. I knew from the set of Bianca’s mouth that she expected me to argue and that she expected to win, but I wouldn’t be moved. Taking someone was allowed by the invitation, but everyone would assume we were lovers. We would be rooming together, would have to spend all of our time together.
We would have to pretend to be a believable couple.
Alexander was exactly the opposite of the men I’d dated in the past. The others might not know me well enough to question it, but Ying would. She’d want to know why I’d brought a man she’d never met before. Our story would collapse.
“No,” I repeated, just in case there was still any doubt. “If you must, send him with me as a guard.”
“Guards won’t have the same access as guests,” Bianca said. “You could take him places where it would seem odd to take a guard.”
“I’m the daughter of a High House,” I said drily. “If I wanted my guard to jump into the pool with me, fully dressed, someone would run to fetch a towel.”
“You don’t want to give House James any reason to think you are there for more than shopping and relaxation. A secret, illicit affair is juicy enough that it might blind them to your true purpose. And Alex can slip away and search for information while you socialize.”
The pieces came together. “You knew I was going.” No wonder she had capitulated so easily. Alexander hadn’t been checking me out at the club, he’d been following me, on Bianca’s orders. Sharp disappointment mixed with acute embarrassment. Thank heavens he’d vanished before I’d tried to chat him up or this meeting would’ve been a whole lot more awkward.
Sending Alexander and Aoife with me had been Bianca’s plan all along. She didn’t think I could handle it. Something like sorrow tried to rise at her lack of faith in me, but I masked it with a practiced smile.
Bianca grimaced. “Technically, Ian knew you were going. He asked for my advice.”
“Director Bishop needs to stay out of my personal communication.” Bitterness gave my voice bite.
Bianca’s laugh echoed off of the walls. After years of being too subdued, it was a shock when Bianca laughed. The sound of her joy hit me so hard, I almost didn’t mind that she was laughing at me. Almost.
“I told him something very similar about my own communication and it got me exactly nowhere, but you’re welcome to try,” she said. “Good luck.”
I sighed and got back to my main point. “It won’t work. No one will believe it. Where would I have met him? He doesn’t exactly scream Consortium. No offense,” I said belatedly.
Alexander grinned. “None taken.”
“He and Aoife can be my guards,” I said, trying to compromise. “No one will blink if I bring an extra, not with the war.”
Bianca’s expression turned shrewd. “Are you meeting someone there?”
I laughed. “If you think I need to go all the way to Andromeda Prime to get laid, you really have been gone for too long.” Although the thought had definitely crossed my mind. Perhaps a little harmless fun would ease the restlessness I’d been feeling lately.
“It’s settled, then. You and Alex will go as a couple. Aoife will go as your guard.”
“It is not settled,” I countered.
Bianca continued as if I hadn’t spoken. “You and Alex can spend the day together today, get to know each other.”
“Bianca Isabella, do not make me bust out your full name,” I said. “I am not going to meet anyone, but I am not above flirting my way into information, either. That will be impossible if I show up with a companion. I have already thought this through, and I have a plan, let me run with it.”
Granted, it was a loose plan—go to the party, get information—but it was mine. I’d been working on getting an invite to this party for months, and now that the hard part was over, Bianca wanted to swoop in and take charge, because she didn’t trust me to do it. It stung.
My sister deflated, barely visible, but I caught the minute slump in her shoulders and the haunted look on her face. She wouldn’t meet my eyes when she said, “I’m not trying to step on your toes, Cat. I just want to keep you safe. All of my information and I couldn’t stop what happened to Ferdinand. And now my network is sending me mixed signals, but I feel like something big is coming. I don’t want you to be unprotected when it hits.”
If it had been pure manipulation, I would have ignored it, but there was a painful honesty to Bianca’s voice. Restless frustration rose. I pushed it back. It wasn’t Bianca’s fault that I was stuck on Earth. That was my choice.
Still, I bit my tongue against the urge to give in, to smooth the way. I hated causing Bianca pain, but if I didn’t stop this now, I’d find myself in Honorius with Alexander as my fake lover, my own plans in ruins.
Perhaps I needed to leave sooner than anticipated.
“Let me think about it,” I said. “I know you are only trying to help, but you sprung it on me without warning, and my schedule is already jam-packed today.” I gave Alexander and Aoife another apologetic smile. “I really do appreciate your offer to help, more than you know, but it’s an unexpected boon. I’ll need to adjust my own plans.”
“Of course,” Aoife agreed easily. “We have time.”
FOR ONCE, I WAS GLAD THAT I WAS EXPECTED AT Mother’s brunch because it gave me the perfect excuse to leave Bianca’s early. Despite remaining mostly quiet, Alexander was impossible to ignore, and I still couldn’t tell what kind of partners he and Aoife were. Distance was my friend.
An invitation to Maria von Hasenberg’s semimonthly brunch was one of the most coveted in the Consortium social scene. Any event held by a High House always drew intense interest, but Mother knew how to generate the most buzz without any apparent effort on her part.
The draw was so strong that two weeks ago, Anne Rockhurst, matriarch of High House Rockhurst, had shown up to make nice and drink mimosas while our two militaries plotted the quickest way to destroy each other.
The brunches were always intimate, with between ten and fifteen guests. Both men and women were invited, but invitations were per individual—no extra guests allowed—and the guest list was always eclectic. Today’s guests included House members, of course, but also the ambassador to a planet no one had ever heard of, a fashion designer, and an astrophysicist.
Bianca remained cut from the list, much to her delight and my dismay. Mother was upset that Bianca had chosen her own happiness over the House’s best interest. She conveyed that disapproval in the most public way she could without officially banishing Bianca. All of my other siblings were out of town, so that left me to fend for myself.
I hoped I’d be seated near the astrophysicist, so I would have someone interesting to talk to.
With the nice weather, brunch would be outside, one tiny positive. I slipped into the building, Susan on my heels, and made my way to the formal breakfast room. The doors had been thrown open and a small crowd clustered on the terrace outside. A long table had been set up, covered in white linen, glittering crystal stemware, and shining silver cutlery. The gardens made a colorful backdrop, perfectly manicured to look wild and natural.
Never let it be said that House von Hasenberg did anything by half measures.
I smoothed my face into a pleasant smile and stepped outside. The first person to notice me was Tae Yamado, the second son of High House Yamado. He was a handsome man, with light golden skin, short black hair, and dark eyes. When he moved toward me, my smile turned genuine.
Tae was Ying’s older brother and she loved him as fiercely as I loved my siblings. He was the most soft-spoken of the Yamado children. If he hadn’t been a decade older than me and happily married, I would’ve tried to snag him, though as the spare, he was out of my league.
He’d married for the good of House Yamado, but by all accounts, he and his wife were making it work. I kept praying for a rogue meteorite to take out his older brother Hitoshi, so that Tae would become heir, but so far, my prayers went unanswered. Tae seemingly had no interest in House politics anyway. It was too bad Ying was the youngest, because she was the most qualified to lead the next generation of House Yamado.
“Cat, you look lovely, as always,” Tae said. He kissed the air next to my cheek.
“Flatterer. What did you do to deserve getting dragged to this special hell?” I asked, my voice pitched for his ears only.
“Mother is under the weather, so I’m attending in her stead. I tried to con Ying into it, but she already had plans with Elizabeth Rockhurst that she couldn’t break.”
I chuckled at his wary expression, but it was smart for House Yamado to schedule events with both rival Houses on the same day. That way, it wouldn’t seem like they were playing favorites in the war, and they would be able to gather intel from both sides.
“Well, now you get to escort me around and learn all the latest society gossip. Aren’t you lucky?”
He held out his elbow. “I am indeed, Lady Catarina. Lead on, and please don’t leave me alone with the vipers.”
I patted his arm. “I’ll do my best. How’s your wife?”
His face softened. “She’s very well, thank you for asking.”
We both pasted on our social smiles and waded into the fray. Most of the gossip was worthless, but I kept my ears open for anything about the war. I doubt anyone had better information than we did, but it didn’t hurt to pay attention.
Mother stood conversing with a short, spare, older man. Lord Henderson was the head of House Henderson. Rumor had it that he was angling for my hand in marriage regardless of the fact that he was old enough to be my father. I’d been raised to think of the House first, but I didn’t know if I could force myself to marry Henderson. He made my skin crawl.
And I couldn’t help comparing him to Alexander Sterling’s warm brown eyes and muscular build. To say Henderson did not fare well in the comparison was a vast understatement.
When Mother saw me with Tae, her mouth compressed into a tiny frown. I bit back a smile and tucked my hand more securely into the crook of Tae’s elbow. No doubt I would be seated near Lord Henderson for the meal, but for now, I could enjoy my moment of freedom.
Tae and I floated from group to group, charming and bubbly. Well, I was charming and bubbly, Tae mostly just nodded along or offered noncommittal grunts. Still, I was glad of his company because his presence shielded me from having to fend off other suitors, namely Henderson, who watched me with a predatory gaze.
While we were between groups, I noticed a woman in her late thirties standing alone. She fidgeted with her dress and looked like she wished she were somewhere else. I towed Tae in her direction. “Hello,” I said, extending a hand as we approached, “I don’t believe we’ve been introduced. I’m Catarina and this is Tae.”
Sharp, wary brown eyes took our measure from behind the clear lenses of her glasses. Odds were her vision was perfect, thanks to the range of corrective options, but she’d decided to use glasses as a fashion statement—or possibly as camouflage. She had curly dark hair, deep brown skin, and high cheekbones. She was on the striking side of beautiful, but the other guests had taken one look at her glasses and cheap dress and written her off.
After a few seconds, she shook my hand. “I’m Esteri Kryer. I’m an astrophysicist for the Royal Consortium Defense Force.” It sounded like she’d repeated the same phrase more than once and expected it to send us running.
The RCDF, as it was more commonly known, was tasked with keeping the peace in the ’verse. Most people thought of soldiers when they thought of the RCDF, but the RCDF also employed a huge number of scientists and researchers.
Before I could ask her what she did, a tinkling chime indicated it was time to take our seats. Tae held out his other elbow to Esteri and she accepted with a nod and a grateful smile. He led us to the table. Mother always seated herself at the head. The rest of us were scattered along its length, not by order of importance but by Mother’s whim.
My name card put me at the final seat on the side of the table closest to the house. Being at the end meant I could only converse with three people: the person next to me, the person across from me, and the person diagonally across from me. It would’ve been a rare gift, but I doubted Mother meant it that way.
It did not surprise me when Tae was seated as far away from me as possible and Lord Henderson settled across from me. Esteri was seated next to Henderson, and an older lady from one of the lower houses was seated next to me. Mother had neatly boxed me in with who she’d thought were the most boring guests so I’d be forced to talk to Lord Henderson.
Too bad for her, I actually liked talking to scientists.
“Cat, you look ravishing today,” Henderson said with a smile that was half leer.
I hadn’t given him permission to use my nickname or drop my title, but that didn’t seem to matter. I smothered my distaste under a cool smile. “Why thank you, Lord Henderson. How is your grandson? Let’s see, he must be five or six by now, right?” I waited for him to nod before I continued. “How time flies. Your daughter must be so proud and you must be delighted to be a grandfather.”
My tone was carefully polite, but in point of fact, his daughter was a few years older than me. His line was secure for two generations. He had no reason to pursue me other than as a tie to House von Hasenberg and because he was a dirty old man.
His smile went tight. “My family is very well, thank you for asking. And please, call me Rupert.”
I made a noncommittal noise and turned to Esteri. “We were interrupted before. Please, tell me about your job at RCDF. What do you do as an astrophysicist?”
“I work on optimizing the equations that the gates use to track celestial bodies,” she said. “My doctoral thesis was on a novel new way to predict orbits, and I’ve taken that research further with the RCDF. Now we’re attempting to translate it into computational improvements.”
Gates were the giant supercomputers that could calculate safe jump points millions of light-years away for spaceships using faster-than-light travel. Even small optimizations in the calculations would mean big gains for the people who relied on the gates every day to safely navigate the cosmos.
“Fascinating,” I said, and I meant it. “So do—”
“Yes, fascinating,” Henderson interrupted, “but we don’t want to bore Lady Catarina with all this talk of work. She’s much more comfortable discussing fashion.” He paused and flicked a meaningful glance at Esteri’s dress. “Oh, but I suppose you wouldn’t know anything about that, would you? Too bad.” He laughed and went so far as to give Esteri a patronizing little pat on her arm.
Esteri’s face tightened into a mask of anger, but she bit her tongue and bowed her head. “Of course, forgive me, Lady Catarina.”
I gave Henderson a bright smile filled with teeth. “Actually, I would like nothing more than to hear what Dr. Kryer has to say. I find her work very interesting, and it is important for us all.” Even you, you misogynistic asshole. I kept the barb to myself. It wouldn’t do to insult one of our potential allies outright while we were in the middle of a war.
Esteri looked between us, but something in my expression must’ve convinced her that I was serious. Her smile turned sly as she launched into a technical discussion of her job. Honestly, I followed less than half of what she said, even though I’d grown up in a High House with the best tutors money could buy. The lady next to me was practically asleep.
I understood gates and the technology behind them at a high level, but Esteri knew them down to the minutia. Listening to her explain her research and how it affected the inner workings of the gates was truly fascinating. She kept talking, I kept asking what I hoped were intelligent-sounding questions, and Henderson kept being thwarted every time he tried to change the subject.
It was a delightful brunch.
Unfortunately, when it was over, Lord Henderson made a beeline straight for my mother, presumably to complain about my behavior, so when Esteri made for the exit, I followed. Susan, my bodyguard, fell in behind us.
“Susan, call us a transport,” I murmured. I could practically feel Mother’s eyes burning a hole into my back. I linked my arm through Esteri’s. “Where are you headed? I’ll give you a lift.”
“You don’t need—” she started.
“You’d be doing me a favor.”
She inclined her head in agreement, and we cut through the house to the family entrance where a House transport waited for us.
We climbed in and Esteri set the transport’s destination to the fiftieth floor of a building in Sector Nine. The transport lifted smoothly into the air, shadowed by another transport in the black and gold of House von Hasenberg colors—our security detail.
I pulled a card from the pocket of my dress and handed it to Esteri. “Lord Henderson is known to be vindictive. If anything happens—anything at all—contact me and I’ll fix it. Even if it doesn’t seem related, like your project loses funding or you get reprimanded at work seemingly out of the blue, contact me.”
“I was happy to help,” she demurred.
“Yes, but I don’t want that help to cost you something you clearly love. That card contains my private contact information. If Lord Henderson acts against you, contact me and don’t let your pride get in your way. Handing him a victory isn’t winning. I can’t do much about him elsewhere, but I can do this.”
“But you’re a von Hasenberg. Surely there’s something you can do to get rid of him?”
My smile was grim. “Not when his attention is in the best interest of the House.”
Esteri’s eyes widened in surprise. I smoothed my expression into a pleasant social smile. I didn’t need to burden a near stranger with my personal feelings. I was extremely privileged. If that privilege sometimes felt like handcuffs, well, that was my problem, not anyone else’s.
I pivoted the conversation back to her research and asked a few more questions about how the gates worked. Now that I didn’t have to worry about sounding smart, I could ask the questions I really wanted answered.
Esteri never once made me feel stupid, even when I asked questions that didn’t make sense. And she was phenomenally smart. This year alone, she’d helped to increase the gate algorithm’s efficiency by 5 percent. I made a mental note to put her on the roster of potential House employees. That way, if the RCDF was ever stupid enough to fire her, we’d be ready to snap her up.
The transport landed and Esteri exited with a wave, still clutching the card I’d given her. When the door closed behind her, I let out a sigh. “Think she’ll contact me?” I asked Susan.
“No, not unless something terrible happens.”
“That’s what I think, too. I’ll have to keep an eye on her.”