Chapter 13

Talia

The crowd of contestants huddled toward the back of the ballroom, waiting for their next set of instructions. Red-jacketed staff members waved them on one by one down aisles of red velvet dining chairs which lined up on either side of the long catwalk-like stage. Women sat on one side, the men on the other.

Talia clutched her data pad to her chest and searched for familiar faces. She found Ambassador Lovelett, then together they located and joined Princess Aloyese.

"Where's the girl?" Talia asked.

"What girl?"

"The one from the ladies' parlor, the one who was crying."

The princess shrugged and shook her head. "I don't know. I haven't seen her for hours."

A staff member approached and guided them to three open seats. Talia sat between her two new friends. Across the stage, she could see Chancellor Abernath sitting in the front row. She handed her data pad to the princess, then stood to better survey the men's crowd but saw no trace of Ambassador Montclair. It was inconsequential, though. Talia knew that Chancellor Abernath would accept her proposal.

"He isn't here."

"Who?" asked Ambassador Lovelett.

"Montclair."

Both the ambassador and the princess took one of Talia's hands to hold.

"It's ok, really. Now I don't have to feel stupid about my decision if he wasn't going to be here anyway." She took back her data pad and refreshed the screen with her marriage preferences. The dot next to Chancellor Abernath's name blinked yellow, indicating that his response was still pending. This was normal, the indicator wouldn't turn red or green until their results were read aloud for the crowd.

Oddly, Ambassador Montclair's name was grayed out. Talia wondered what circumstances would cause a contestant to be marked like that, especially with how careful the masquerade was to keep any indication of the results a secret until they were read aloud for the audience.

A woman dressed in an extravagantly beaded champagne gown took the stage, a long train following behind her. Her short auburn red hair was combed back in a sleek and sophisticated style. She wore no veil and her lips were painted an ominous shade of dark red.

"Ladies and gentlemen," she held a large golden mic to her lips with a wide smile, "it is time to review the results of this decennial's masquerade!"