‘I apologize for interrupting,’ said Dalmora’s voice from behind me, ‘but we must get Jarra ready for the ceremony.’
Dalmora was an Alphan aristocrat and just asked politely, but Amalie and Issette were with her and believed in direct action. The pair of them grabbed my arms and dragged me away. We went past a group of people that included Colonel Stone, Lecturer Playdon, Candace, and Fian’s mother. I tried to stop and talk to them, but Issette yanked me into a side room, stole my cheese fluffle carton, and thrust me through a door into a bathroom.
‘Shower!’
I obediently peeled off my blackened uniform, and stepped into the warm fragrant water of the shower. Blizz, pure blizz! I could have stayed in there for hours, but Amalie was shouting at me through the bathroom door.
‘Hurry up, Jarra! Your first lot of clothes are by the door.’
First lot of clothes? I reluctantly switched the shower to dry cycle, stepped out while my hair was still damp, and found the clothes were very similar to Fian’s outfit. I dressed, worked out how to lace the boots, went out of the bathroom, and was instantly shoved into a chair.
‘Does anyone know what’s going to happen in this ceremony?’ I asked.
‘Drago will explain,’ said Dalmora. ‘Quiet now!’
She started dabbing makeup on my face and lips, and a total stranger came into the room and started doing things to my hair. I wanted to say hello to her, but daren’t open my mouth.
Dalmora, Amalie and Issette were wearing matching sleeveless dresses that hung to the floor in long flowing folds of silver and palest eggshell blue, and their hair was ornately arranged. Whatever was going to happen in this ceremony, they were obviously part of it. I compared their outfits to my simple tunic and leggings, and started worrying about what I’d be wearing later. If I had to wear a dress as long as theirs, I’d probably trip and fall flat on my face.
Several centuries went by before Dalmora allowed me to escape from the chair and go back into the main hall. A man in Captain’s uniform instantly came up and offered me a tray of food and drink.
I shook my head. ‘No thanks. I’ve already had cheese fluffle and now I’m too nervous to … Oh, you’re Captain Marston. You’re betrothed to Major Tar Cameron, aren’t you?’
He disconcerted me by giving me an angry look. ‘Yes, sir.’
‘Can you tell me what happens in Betan betrothal ceremonies? I missed the rehearsals so …’
Rayne Tar Cameron hurried up, snatched the tray from Marston, and glared at him. ‘I need you to help me in hall 2. Now!’
The pair of them went off, and I heard laughter from behind me. I turned to see Drago and Marlise. ‘What the chaos was that about?’ I asked.
‘Rayne and Qwin seem to be having a few relationship problems,’ said Marlise. ‘They had a big argument at breakfast this morning, and Rayne threw a bowl of cereal at Qwin right in front of Colonel Stone.’
‘Really?’ I laughed. ‘I’d no idea Rayne could be so …’
‘Human?’ Drago grinned. ‘It was a bit of a surprise to everyone. At any other time, Nia Stone would probably have ignored it, but the dining hall was full of special guests here for the ceremony, including the terrifying General Hiraga herself! Rayne’s on report for the first time in her impeccable career, and in a filthy mood.’
‘Oh, I see.’ I moved on to a far more important subject. ‘Drago, I don’t have a clue what I’m supposed to do in this ceremony.’
‘Don’t worry, Jarra. There’ll be four parts to the ceremony. Your presentation, Fian’s adoption, the contract approval, and the betrothal. You don’t need to say anything during the presentation because it’s normally done when you’re a baby, you aren’t involved in the adoption ceremony, and you’ll be away changing clothes during the contract approval.’
‘It’s the betrothal that’s worrying me.’
Drago grinned. ‘We’ll talk you through everything you have to do and say in that. You’re already wearing the comms devices.’
‘I am?’
He tapped the side of his face, and I heard his voice talking in my ear. ‘The jewelled pins in your hair. I’ll give you instructions, you just follow them.’
‘Oh,’ I said. ‘Yes, that works.’
‘Given the complications of Military assignments, it’s never easy to get many of the clan physically in one place, but we’ve managed enough to look respectable, and …’ He tugged back the sleeve of his toga to reveal his forearm lookup, and tapped it. ‘How are we doing on the banners of the Fifty, Caius?’
‘All fifty banner bearers have arrived now,’ said an unfamiliar voice. ‘The Fabian alliance naturally sent their lowest ranked clan member, but the August alliance sent someone surprisingly respectable and … Oh chaos!’
Drago frowned. ‘What’s wrong?’
‘You won’t believe this, but Lucius Augustus Gordianus just portalled in. Look!’
A holo image appeared in midair, showing two people standing near a portal. A man who might be anywhere between sixty and eighty, and a much younger woman. They were wearing ornate formal togas, and the woman carried a baby in her arms.
‘What the nuking hell does Lucius want?’ Drago heard my gasp and pulled an apologetic face at me. ‘Sorry, Jarra. That phrase isn’t as rude in Beta as in other sectors, but … I don’t understand why the head of the August clan council is here. Our clans haven’t exactly been on good terms since Thetis.’
Caius spoke from the lookup. ‘What do we do, Drago? Turning him away would be a huge insult, but if he’s here to cause trouble …’
Drago buried his face in his hands for a second. ‘The woman with Lucius is his daughter, Juliana Augusta Helena. Clan August would never involve their closeted womenfolk in anything violent, and disrupting the ceremony would be disrespectful to the Fifty, so …’
I took a step closer to the holo image. ‘Drago, look at the bracelet on the baby’s arm. That’s a Hospital Earth Nursery identity band!’
‘Nuk …’ Drago shook his head. ‘I mean, chaos take it. The grandchild of Lucius Augustus Gordianus has been born Handicapped, which explains everything that’s been confusing us. The August clan keeping so quiet. Who was running that expensive publicity campaign. Even the shock news about clan Marius withdrawing from the August alliance.’
He ran his fingers through his hair. ‘Lucius must have been fighting some major battles within both clan and alliance. I have to give the man credit for courage, because he’s gambled his whole political career for that baby. Clan Marius obviously wouldn’t stomach getting involved, but if Lucius has imposed his will on the rest of the August alliance then …’
Drago started rattling instructions into his lookup. ‘Caius, Lucius has come here as a public display of support from clan August. Give him and his daughter the most fulsome welcome you can, and take them into a room by themselves. Don’t, whatever you do, mention the baby unless they do. I’m betting some more heads of clans in the August alliance will show up as well, so put them in with Lucius and his daughter.’
Drago ended the call and turned to his wife. ‘Marlise, can you tell General Torrek what’s happening? I’ll warn my father. I saw him talking to Jaxon earlier. Come along and meet them, Jarra.’
My brother, Jaxon. Oh chaos! With everything else that had been happening, I hadn’t thought about the possibility of meeting my brother or sister. I trailed reluctantly after Drago, to where two men in togas were talking.
‘Jarra, this is my father, General Dragon Tell Dramis, and your brother, Commander Jaxon Tell Galad,’ said Drago.
I was startled to recognize the older man’s face. This was the General who’d called me to break the news that my parents had been killed.
‘I’m delighted to meet you at last, Jarra,’ he said.
‘Thank you, sir.’
‘We’re not in uniform, Jarra. You should address me as cousin.’ He gave me a relaxed smile.
Drago started telling his father about the surprise guests
, and I was left facing my brother. We’d only exchanged impersonally polite recorded messages before now, so I didn’t know what to say. Jaxon finally broke the awkward silence.
‘Our sister, Gemelle, sends her apologies that her assignment doesn’t allow her to be here. She wishes you every happiness.’
‘Thank you,’ I muttered. ‘I mean, thank her for me.’
There was another painful silence. I knew I wasn’t helping much, but I felt it was up to Jaxon to make the effort here. He’d grown up with our clan and our parents, while I’d been abandoned on Earth. He could have said he was sorry about what had happened, instead of trying to avoid looking at me. What was wrong with him? Was he another of the bigots who didn’t think I was really human? Had he been forced into being here to present me to the clan?
Drago finished his explanation, and his father nodded. ‘I’ll go and welcome Lucius Augustus Gordianus myself.’
He vanished off, which left Drago free to check how my brother and I were getting along. It must have been obvious our first meeting was a disaster, because he spoke with artificial cheerfulness.
‘We’d better start getting ready for the ceremony.’
I gulped. I still didn’t know what would happen during the betrothal, but it was bound to involve me saying something romantic and I was incredibly bad at that sort of thing. I was about to make a complete nardle of myself in front of a vast audience.
19
I was in a strange room that had three walls entirely covered with vid screens and equipment, and a fourth wall that was a massive glass window. I looked through the window at a huge hall below, with banks of seating and a wide central aisle leading to a raised platform. ‘Can the people down there see us?’
‘No,’ said my cousin, Caius. ‘The glass is one way. It looks just like the wall from the other side.’
The front two rows of seats down in the hall were empty, presumably reserved for those actually taking part in the ceremony, but the rest were filled with people. Fian’s mother was easy to spot because of the shiny clothes that were fashionable in Delta sector. Candace was sitting next to her.
‘You could sit down.’ Caius gestured at where Drago and Jaxon were sitting.
I shook my head. I was far too tense to sit still, so I paced round the room, watching several Military officers working at the banks of equipment that controlled the security system, vid bees, lighting and sound in the hall below.
‘Shouldn’t we be starting?’ I asked.
‘We’re about to open the live link for the newzies.’ Drago nodded at the glass wall. ‘The lights are already dimming.’
I realized he was right. The lights in this room were staying at full brightness, but the hall below was gradually getting darker.
‘Opening live link now,’ said one of the Military officers. ‘We have three Beta sector newzie channels connecting. Make that five, ten … Military links to Kappa and Zeta are open. Alpha channels joining now. Delta. Gamma. Here comes Epsilon. We’ve over a hundred channels open already and more still joining. You’ve got one of the biggest live audiences in history for this.’
Great, I thought. No pressure, no pressure at all!
Drago tapped the side of his face, and I heard his voice through the jewelled pins in my hair. ‘All right, everyone. Other sectors have been getting their ideas of us from the gutter sex vids for far too long. Let’s show them the real Beta sector. Let’s show them Fidelis!’
Those words ended on an inspiring note, then there was a short pause before he continued in a more business-like voice. ‘Music cue clan in three, two, one. Now!’
I heard the sound of drumbeats in the ominous rhythm that was the start of the Thetis March. I should have guessed the clan of Tellon Blaze would use that music. I moved closer to the window, and looked down at the almost total blackness in the hall.
‘Positions for entry of the clan,’ said Drago. ‘Torches in three, two, one. Now!’
There was a dramatic flash of light by the entrance to the hall. Flaming torches hovered in midair around a column of perhaps thirty men and women wearing togas. The first two held the poles of banners that fluttered out in a non-existent wind. The banners of Beta sector and of the Tell clan.
The music grew louder as the column of people moved slowly down the central aisle, and climbed the steps to the platform. They formed into a semi-circle facing the audience, with the flaming torches around them and a banner at each side. Drago’s father, Dragon Tell Dramis, was in the centre, a step or two ahead of the others. The Thetis March reached a dramatic peak and then there was sudden silence.
‘The Tell clan welcomes the clans of the Military alliance,’ said Dragon Tell Dramis.
‘Music cue alliance,’ said Drago. ‘Clans enter in three, two, one. Now!’
This time the music was the hymn of humanity, and there were no flaming torches, just spotlights on groups of figures, each led by someone carrying their clan banner.
‘The Ray clan,’ said Dragon Tell Dramis. ‘The Tar clan. The …’
I glanced at the wall vids and saw they were showing close-ups of the banners. If I hadn’t been a mass of nerves, I would have been fascinated by their history.
Dragon Tell Dramis ended the roll call of the Military clans. Their members placed the banners in holders along the wall at the left side of the platform, forming a vibrant mass of colours, and went to sit down in the reserved seats.
‘The Tell clan welcomes the fifty banners of Beta sector,’ said Dragon Tell Dramis.
‘Music cue Beta sector,’ said Drago. ‘The Fifty enter in three, two, one. Now!’
The music changed to the Beta sector anthem, and a line of fifty elderly men and women entered, all dressed in identical white togas trimmed with imperial purple. They carried their banners down the aisle in solemn procession, then placed them at the right side of the platform and sat down in the front row of seats.
‘If anyone hasn’t heard the news yet,’ said Drago, ‘we’ve some unexpected guests. Try not to look too shocked, because the Beta sector newzies will be replaying this moment for days.’
‘The Tell clan welcomes the August clan,’ said Dragon Tell Dramis.
I could see heads turning in the audience below, some people even standing up to get a better view of the man carrying the August clan banner, and the young woman beside him with the baby in her arms. I had to admire the way the man and woman appeared calmly unaware of everyone staring at them.
Drago tapped me on the shoulder, and pointed a finger at the portal in the corner of the room. I gulped. There would be some more clans of the August alliance, and then me!
Jaxon joined me at the portal, and we stepped through into a dimly lit room. A young man in a toga began rapidly gabbling instructions.
‘You go through the door opposite, and stand in the centre aisle. Nobody will see you in the darkness. When the torches either side of you come on, you start moving towards the platform. Don’t touch the torches, they’re being controlled remotely.’
We went through the door into blackness, and Jaxon startled me by speaking in a harsh, emotional voice.
‘I’m sorry. I was a selfish kid back then. I threw tantrums about how moving to Earth would affect my schooling, my future career, my … It was all about me. I never stopped to think about you.’
I didn’t know what to say, and there wasn’t time to say anything anyway because Drago’s voice was giving us instructions again. ‘We’re back on script now. Music cue Thetis march. Jarra, Jaxon, you’re on in three, two, one. Now!’
Torches flared either side of us, and I saw vid bees skulking around in the shadows sending images out to the newzies. We paced slowly past the rows of seats packed with people, reached the platform, and stood facing Dragon Tell Dramis.
‘Who comes to the clan?’ he asked.
‘Jaxon Tellonus Galad, son of Marack Tellonus Galad, son of Jarra Tellona Morrath of the line of Tellon Blaze,’ said Jaxon.
‘Why do you come
to the clan?’ asked Dragon Tell Dramis.
‘I come to present my youngest sister to the knowledge and kindred of the clan of her birth,’ said Jaxon. ‘Let it be heard …’
There was a pause, a long pause, and then Drago’s voice spoke in my ear. ‘Let it be heard in the halls.’ He waited before speaking again in an urgent, pleading voice. ‘Come on, Jaxon. This is no time for one of your guilt trips. You were no more to blame than all the rest of us. The clan broke faith with one of its own, the clan shares the shame, but we’re making things right for Jarra now.’
I glanced sideways at Jaxon, and saw the years of pain in his face. I hadn’t realized … I’d had to live with the fact I’d been abandoned at birth, but my clan had had to live with the fact they’d abandoned me.
I’d been gradually learning about Fidelis, and what it meant to Betans. My clan had broken Fidelis when they handed over one of their children to Hospital Earth. Other clans might be able to cope with the guilt and dishonour of that, but it was much harder for the proud descendants of the legendary hero Tellon Blaze. That was why they’d defied all the opposition to hold this ceremony. That was why they’d decided to have vid bees sending coverage out to the newzies. That was why they’d invited the banners of Beta sector as witnesses.
This ceremony wasn’t just about giving me the family I’d never had, or about gaining sympathy for the Handicapped so the Military could find us new worlds. It was also about restoring the honour of my clan.
Jaxon was still mutely standing there. Nothing Drago could say would get through to him. Only I could do this.
I took my brother’s hand. ‘It’s time to forget the past and concentrate on the future. We’re making this right for all of us.’
‘Let it be heard in the halls,’ Drago’s voice prompted again.
‘Let it be heard in the halls.’ Jaxon’s voice was shaking and there were random pauses between his words. ‘I present the noble born Jarra Tellona Feren, daughter to Gemena Raya Feren and Marack Tellonus Galad, who was son of Jarra Tellona Morrath of the line of Tellon Blaze.’