Chapter 7

Talia

The ladies' parlor was the first place Talia went to during the intermission. Before entering, she studied the intricate carvings on the large wooden pocket door.

The dark stain was classic and grand. It settled into the wood's deep grains, pronouncing them like a pattern of rivers across the door. Puzzling carvings like strange animals intertwined with vines and leaves. It was all very interesting to the eye but not necessarily beautiful. It felt uninspired somehow and was more reminiscent of a machine-made replica rather than true handiwork. Talia expected better from the Heaven's Pearl's reputation.

Who was she to be a snob, though? Really, she was only stalling because from inside, she heard crying. Talia didn't know if she could get wrapped up in another woman's torment and still be able to stay level-headed enough to make the decision that needed to be made tonight. Right as Talia was second guessing going into the ladies' parlor, she heard footsteps approaching and turned to see Jules coming down the hallway.

That was all she needed.

She hooked her fingers into the handled notch and slid the heavy door aside, taking care to close it gently behind her. Jules wasn't a contestant, and the parlor was only accessible to contestants and waitstaff.

"They caught him," wailed a young woman in a long, fitted red gown lying on the floor. She was sobbing. This was a mistake. Talia reached behind herself to slide the door open again and leave but remembered that Jules would be waiting for her on the other side.

The woman's head rested in Princess Aloeyse's lap, who was seated cross-legged on a cushion. Both of their veils lay on the ground beside them.

"Shhh, shhh," the Vipraaen princess soothed as she brushed her fingers through the girl's pale blonde hair. And she was a girl, too, Talia noticed. Goodness, she could barely be of age to register for the masquerade.

"What's going on?" Talia whispered to the woman nearest her. "Caught who?"

"Her lover," she replied quietly, rolling her eyes. "Back home. Daddy sent her away to the masquerade, but her hero was coming to save her."

"She's just a child," Talia chided, feeling the blood boil in her cheeks.

The woman shrugged and walked in the direction of the powder room. Talia wanted to grab her by the shoulders and shake some empathy into her. Hadn't she ever loved anyone? Or had politics and formalities replaced her emotions?

Talia looked back to Princess Aloeyse and the girl crying in her lap. The princess had similarly sharp-angled features as the woman who'd just left, but Talia found her to be elegant instead of severe.

"Shh, shh," she soothed again as the girl's cries began to taper off.

The princess helped the girl to the nearest couch, where she lay on her side with her face buried in the velvet upholstery as she hugged a pillow over her head.

"Try to get some rest, okay?" Princess Aloeyse said. "Tonight will be over soon enough."

"The best thing you can do, really," another woman chimed in, "is to find someone to marry. Someone who can take you far away from your parents and give you some freedom."

The girl began crying loudly again. Frustrated moans scattered about the room.

"Why would you say that?" someone whined.

"What? Look, I'm sorry that she's losing her first love, but she only has one night. That's it! She's young and some things take time to learn, but she doesn't have time." She knelt beside the girl and put her hand on her shaking shoulder. "You need to get away from them."

"She's right," another tagged on. "It's devastating, but she's right."

Princess Aloeyse bent over the arm of the sofa and brushed the girl's hair behind her ear. Gently, she told her, "I know it hurts, dear sweet girl, but please consider what they are saying. You cannot save him, but you might be able to save yourself."

Ryker.

A wave of grief hit and the room slipped from Talia's vision. Everything spun until she wasn't sure if she was standing upright anymore.

"Whoa, Chancellor Steele, just breathe. Just breathe." Hands grabbed Talia's elbows and steadied her until her vision and breathing normalized. "Are you all right?"

Golden eyes were studying her now instead of the crying girl.

"I'm fine, I'm fine. Thank you. I need to get some air."

The princess nodded. "Things are a bit heavy in here, yes?"

The women smiled with understanding at each other, then Talia slid her way back out of the parlor and sagged against the door after it closed.

Ryker was gone. He wasn't lost, he wasn't missing. He was gone.

"Chancellor?" Jules stood from the bench across the hallway and approached.

Talia put up her hand to stop her. "What do you want?"

"Please, I only wanted to talk to you about Ambassador Montclair and his coordinates."

Right, Talia gave Jules the coordinates during the first intermission, before the ballroom reopened for dancing.

"You were right, his information wasn't in any dossier. The staff couldn't even find their own contestant packet on him. They wouldn't let me connect to the external network, of course, but I gave them everything you had and they did the research."

The door supporting Talia slid open from behind her and two women exited. She followed Jules across the hallway back to the bench but didn't sit with her.

"Go on."

"It's, well, it's laughable!" Her vice-chancellor shook her head, smiling, and swiped through pages on her data pad. "There's nothing there. A planet, sure, but there's no history of it being identified on any star maps ever. It's a shot in the dark, literally. You cannot be serious."

"He said there's old tech there, from a previous settlement, so it must've been something at some point in time. Not all of it works but it's advanced enough to have medical?—"

"I know about Dawn."

That sucked Talia's breath from her lungs. "What?"

"Before we left for the masquerade, I was looking for you, to finalize details. I saw you going to the medical bay, so I followed you."

"You had no right!"

A passing couple gasped at Talia's raised voice, then murmured to each other and shuffled off.

"What are you going to do, Chancellor Steele, raise a baby on an undeveloped planet?"

"We have the ship."

"We'd be living like cavemen."

"Hardly!"

"It wouldn't be fair! Not to Dawn, not to any of us."

"New Horizon has everything we need to cultivate civilization on Ambassador Montclair's planet. It's a generation ship, that's our entire purpose."

"Our purpose evolves with our people. What our ancestors started doesn't have to be what we finish."

"It's what we were meant for. Commit to the path that's already been set, Jules."

"What about Chancellor Abernath?"

Talia scrubbed her hands over her face. "Don't bring him into this, he's not an option for me. You know that."

Jules stood and took a step closer to Talia, pressing her boundaries. "If I find out that he made you an offer and you refused, so help me, Chancellor, I will turn you in for treason."

Talia laughed in amazement. "For what exactly?"

"For betraying New Horizon's expectations. You took an oath?—"

"To find a planet! No one said which one. I'm adhering to our mission." Talia placed a hand on Jules' shoulder and with every ounce of authority she could muster, guided her "friend" back down to the bench. "What are you going to do? You forget that we're cut off from communication with New Horizon, and at the end of the night, it's not me who's committed treason. Ever since you slipped into the role of vice-chancellor, all you've done is undermine me and turned me into a puppet for tonight's event. I'm tired of it, Jules, and if you ever accuse me of treason again, I'll take my own case against you to the council."

With that, she turned and left to roam the halls. Alone. As she did, Princess Aloeyse's words echoed in her head.

"You cannot save him, but you might be able to save yourself."