"It's crap," Zec sneers as he wraps his cloak with his house symbol embroidered in gold around his black frock coat. "We're emptying the treasury for champanhe and kabiar when we should be paying our soldiers."
"Well, it looks pretty impressive from up here," Blair says.
"What happens if I don't like this woman? It's our wedding day, and I have yet to meet her! I feel like we're being bred like cattle. Humans can marry whoever they want, and we still have the gall to say that we're the more advanced species!"
"You're comparing us to those savages on Earth? And your mother definitely had a say in this, so I suspect you'll be fine."
"Let's get this over with, then," Zec says unhappily.
After an hour of introductions and conversations with ambassadors, generals, and other members of the upper echelons of Euperian society, Zec feels exhausted. Blair, perceiving that his prince is irritated, hands him a flute of champanhe. The prince is fond of the Earth beverage. He excuses the prince and walks him over to a quiet section of the garden. Zec swirls the glass in his hand and takes a few sips. They stand silently at the edge of the gardens and look out at the skyline of the Immortal City, Greron.
The first bell rings, announcing that the royal family will be entering the throne room presently. Zec gulps the rest of his champanhe. A few minutes later they enter the vast hall, which is lit by huge candelabras hanging from each of sixteen marble columns, showering the space with a brilliant glow that makes the thousands of gems in the arched ceiling dance and brightens the statues and holograms of past kings and warriors.
King Uphu, Zec's sire, sits on a magnificent obsidian throne with Odilia and Queen Liaj flanking him on smaller thrones. Zec takes his seat on the empty throne to his father's right.
Once all the guests are seated, a stream of entertainers starts singing, dancing, and performing aerobatics. The last performers, from the Atiru tribe, create fire-representations of the guests and the royal family. At the end of their performance, their flames form images of Zec and his bride to be. When the presenters extinguish the flames, Eza appears in the middle of the stage in her golden dress.
The guests cheer and clap. King Uphu rises from his throne, and Eza kneels in front of him.
"My son, I present to you Eza of Lativia, one of the three great founding houses of ancient Euperia. Today's union of the great house of Lativia with our House Eertu is a celebration of our many centuries of glory and prosperity, and a bridge to an even brighter future for the Euperian Empire."
The guests resume their frenzied clapping and cheering. A visibly stunned Zec rises from his throne. Eza is more beautiful than he ever imagined, though he' s sure that he has seen her before somewhere. He steps off the dais and stands next to Blair, who looks even more shocked than Zec himself. Eza rises, thanks the king, and extends her left arm. King Uphu takes her hand and kisses it. She then walks to Zec and extends her hand to him. He looks at her hand, bends, and kisses it, all in a daze.
"Is she the girl from my birthday party?" he whispers to Blair as he straightens.
"Yes," Blair says, more sharply than he meant to.
"You were right, I had nothing to worry about," Zec says. "She's stunning." He offers his elbow to Eza, and leads her to the middle of the stage.
Chapter 13
"It is presumed that this morning's bombing was orchestrated by the EIRF in repudiation of the Alien Exclusion Act. It was the third failed attempt on Ambassador Jabieko's life since the passage of Proclamation 6609."
George Harper glares at the TV screen as he watches firefighters try to contain a fire at the Alien Embassy headquarters on Manhattan's Upper East Side.
"There are no reports of the ambassador's whereabouts, but the UN Secretary-General's office reported a few hours ago that the Head Minister is traveling to an undisclosed location to meet with Ambassador Jabieko. The nature and purpose of the meeting has not been disclosed."
"Dad, the TV's too loud!" Amy shouts.
George lowers the volume as she looks at the screen with a worried expression. "Dad, you think it's a good idea to still go to the city?"
"I'll be fine, honey. My meeting's in Brooklyn, miles away from the explosion."
"Dad, things are getting uglier by the day. Maybe you should take something to protect yourself."
George stares at Amy, surprised that she would suggest, even indirectly, that he break the law. He stands up and hugs her. "It's going to be fine, honey. I know you've been going through a lot lately, but things aren't so bad. Certainly not bad enough to start carrying an illegal weapon."
"Yes, Dad," Amy replies meekly. "I just worry about you."
"Careful, you never know who's listening," George whispers in her ear.
After rolling her eyes, Amy walks to the kitchen and makes herself a bowl of synthetic congee and pork floss. Her phone rings; she takes it out of her back pocket and sees an image of Emma wearing paint and making a goofy face. She accepts the request, and a hologram of Emma is projected from the phone's screen. "When are you picking me up?" Emma asks eagerly.
"Gotta eat. I'll be there in twenty minutes."
"Perfect! See you soon. GO RAIDERS!" Emma disconnects.
Amy hears her dad calling her from the living room: "Amy, have you seen my charger?"
"Pretty sure you left it in the car like you always do."
"Thanks! Have fun at the game," George says.
"Message me when you get to the city, please," Amy replies. She watches through the living room window as her father tosses his luggage into the back of the car. They wave at each other, and he
