Not without one of us dragging his house’s honor through the dirt.
The Changelings had used our strength against us.
The future looked bleak. It looked very bleak indeed.
S’lec-Quos picked up a champagne glass and raised it. He gave me a nod. I nodded back amiably.
“To a new beginning,” he said. “May this be the first peaceful day of many.”
An overweight lady with a costume at least three sizes too small hesitated before drinking the champagne. She should have known better. The Changelings had already gotten what they wanted from us. There would be no sense in poisoning us now.
The side doors opened and an army of Titan servants placed the first dish of the dinner before us. A Methusida steak—a delicacy to we Titans.
And another slap in the face.
It was the meal served after a battle was over. The two clans would come together to break bread and resolve their differences. By eating it, we were accepting our defeat and their victory. It was a part of our culture and heritage.
Culture and heritage that would slowly fade with time and be replaced with Changeling traditions.
It was a hell of a time to be alive.
The guests whispered quiet conversation among themselves. Nobody had much to say to me. I had even less to say to them. The most interesting thing was Zes across the table from me.
He belched, making a perfunctory effort to contain it with a hand over his mouth.
“Excuse me!” he said.
Nobody excused him. They glared at him. He didn’t take any notice. He continued to feast quite happily.
I shook my head. How good it must be to act as freely as you wanted without fear of reprisals.
I took a sip from my glass and ran my eye across the long line of lords and ladies who had betrayed their own people.
There, Traes, owner of the largest single mining operation in the empire. And there, Lady Lanos, the richest landowner. And there—
My wineglass froze, perched to my lips.
A moment of hesitation, but if anyone had been watching, they would have seen it.
I slipped my mask back on carefully and dragged my eyes away from that section of the table and set to eating the meal that suddenly tasted like ash in my mouth.
Every few minutes, I allowed myself a glance down the far end of the table. Waiting that long was hard enough. Being unable to stare openly was almost painful.
A small group of alien creatures sat eating their meals. It didn’t have the same meaning to them because they were not Titans. I couldn’t even name some of the species.
But they were all invisible to me.
I had eyes only for her.
For the most beautiful creature in the galaxy.
My wife.
She perched on the edge of her chair delicately. She had to because she was smaller than the average Titan. She was dainty and feminine with long limbs and a heart-shaped face.
She cut a small piece of the meat and slipped it in her mouth.
I was imagining things again. In a moment, someone would sit in what had to be an empty chair.
Except, when she spoke to the alien creature beside her, the alien spoke back.
She wasn’t an apparition at all.
She was real.
I distracted myself with another taste of my meal before peering at her again. I appraised her and began to notice small differences to the face I’d memorized from years of careful study.
Her silhouette was not quite the same. Her nose was a little longer, her chin smoother and less square. Her skin still shone with the same vibrancy. She wasn’t my wife but she looked very much like her.
I felt a little relieved. I wasn’t losing my mind. I hadn’t imagined her.
She was real.
And the next time I glanced her way, she glanced in mine.
Our eyes locked for just a fraction of a second.
I could have sworn I felt a solid click.
And I couldn’t take my eyes off her.
At the end of the meal, the side doors were opened and we were encouraged to head toward the ballroom where we’d be entertained by a variety of performances.
“That was delicious,” Zes said, rubbing his bulging belly with both hands.
“Yeah,” I said, my eyes darting from one pair of guests to another. Where had she gone?
“I don’t know about you, but I’m exhausted,” Zes said. He yawned so broadly it used up his whole body. “We should hit the hay.”
“You go on up,” I said. “I might stay up a little while.”
“If you stay, I stay,” Zes said.
“No, really. Go up. I’ll go to bed soon.”
“I cannot forsake my sworn duty,” Zes said.
“That was to my brother, not to me,” I said, still searching for the girl.
“To the House Taw,” Zes said, eyes drooping dangerously low. “And I’m not a Titan who forsakes his word.”
I saw her. Barely a glimpse through a gap in the crowd.
“All right,” I said, grabbing him by the arm. “This way!”
We entered the ballroom and I cast around for her again. Still no sign.
“Damn!” I said.
Zes was stumbling side to side. He was going to collapse any second. I angled him toward a table, already occupied by a pair of lords I didn’t recognize. They glared at us as Zes collapsed on the chair, his head banging against the tabletop.
“He suffers from narcolepsy,” I said. He didn’t really. He just had a habit of overeating and passing out. “I’ll let him rest for a bit and he’ll be back to normal in no time.”
I left the table before they could offer a single word of complaint—which they would. The wealthy were always the first to complain.
I headed in the direction I’d last seen the girl and peered around at the empty space. Most of the tables were empty. Most of the guests headed upstairs to their rooms. Some had come from distant moons and far-flung planets. The tables that were occupied only had a single couple. They sat facing the stage at the front.
I scratched my head.
