Glad You're Born

Chapter 1-3

Jason nodded. “I expect to stick to it, Lady Strange. And thank you for helping to make it easier to speak my heart. I didn't expect to feel so comfortable with you.”

I felt the tug of intuition. “So, you asked to meet me beforehand? It wasn't my mother's doing?”

“No, it wasn't, Lady Strange. I'm afraid I let your mother believe that the purpose was to ask you to marry.”

“She won't be happy with your decision, you know.” And neither am I.

He shrugged. “Will she be so displeased as to end trade relations?”

“Not likely, Lord Lakeland, and despite the rumors, that's not her decision.” I didn't mention the likelihood of less favorable trade rates.

Jason smiled. “I'll choose an appropriate time to speak with her. How long before you have to make your appearance?”

“Father will announce me in fifteen minutes or so. How will your parents view your decision?”

“Oh, with some displeasure, I suppose, but my remaining a bachelor has its advantages. I'd think your remaining available would have similar advantages.”

I shook my head, sensing an opportunity. “It's not the same. Men as good looking as you can form alliances just on their availability. Women with a figure like mine have to marry. How I wish I had my mother's bosom. She's so much more voluptuous than I. I've got such a slender build I wonder sometimes that any man would be interested.” I sighed dramatically, frowning.

“Figures aren't everything, Lady Allison. You're quite the conversationalist, you know. And your looks would stop a gravrail. When I first saw you, you took my breath away.”

I melted inside and let him see it. I felt pleased he'd called me by name. “Thank you, Lord Jason.” I blinked rapidly, trying to look shy. I've got him interested!

“You won't have any trouble finding a husband.”

The factory-floor rat! “Perhaps not,” I said. He was more determined than I'd thought. As the governor's second son, and not the heir, Jason had more latitude than his older sibling. “I don't know what your parents will say, but mine aren't going to be happy about this. You do know what your parents will say, don't you?” I frowned at him.

Jason shook his head.

His parents probably wouldn't oppose his calling off the betrothal, but he didn't know that. “They'll say, 'How can you make a decision like that already? You don't even know each other.' ”

He frowned and looked away. “Maybe.”

“You know what I think? I think that the only way you'll convince them is if you stay on Catalonia awhile, make an effort to get to know me, and then tell them it won't work.”

Jason grinned. “You want me to stay, don't you, Lady?”

I shrugged and smiled. “You are quite handsome, Lord.”

He looked as if he were considering the suggestion.

“The guest wing at the Strange Mansion is empty right now. You'd have it all to yourself.”

“How often would I be expected to, uh…be in attendance?”

He was going to say something else, wasn't he? “Oh, I don't know. We'll have to appear in public quite often, if you're going to convince your parents you really tried. At least twice per week, I'd think.” What was he going to say?

“A month would be all?” Jason asked, rubbing his chin. “I can do that much.”

He was handsome, in a boyish kind of way. “I'll have my domestic prepare the rooms, Lord Jason. I'm looking forward to making your acquaintance.”

“And I, yours, Lady Allison.” He nodded and smiled.

I returned his smile and tried not to sigh with relief.

“Gladborn of Catalonia,” the labgrown said, facing the crowd from the legislature steps, his voice resonant and clear. “Two hours of rain is a sign!”

Labgrown blast, now what?! I met my father's gaze across the crowd. We both sensed danger. The ball had begun badly. The rain had started when Father announced me. The canopy over the Central Square had protected the crowd from the rain, but the canvas-amplified sound had drowned out the speech I'd tried to give. Instead of lasting for half an hour—which it did, four times a day, nearly every day, spring, summer, fall, or winter—the rain had continued for far longer. And much harder than usual, pounding the canvas above us for nearly two hours, until even Catalonia natives had begun to wonder. A few minutes ago, the rain had begun to let up, and now, only the sound of runoff remained.

First the protest, next the moss bloom, then the rain, and now this! I looked at Jason in exasperation.

“Soon a savior will move among you, one who has come to lift the burden of enslavement from labgrown and gladborn alike! Enslavement is the condition in which the labgrown live. While gladborn celebrate tonight, labgrown are dying in mines and factories. They labor their lives away that you might enjoy this evening. The savior shall incite them to rise up and dash down this very temple of iniquity you now occupy.”

I swallowed my frustration and slipped through the crowd toward Father.

“You!” Constantine Strange bellowed, approaching the clone, his voice shaking with rage. “How dare you disrupt this celebration? Come with me now and present your case in private, and let the young woman celebrate her adulthood undisturbed by your agitation.” Father sounded as frustrated as I felt. I stepped to his side.

“And so you would suborn my message,” the clone replied. “Hear my words: the savior will come among you and lead the labgrown to free—”

The clone flew from the veranda steps, tackled by a security guard with a full body block. Swiftly, the guard restrained the clone and dragged him off the steps, the clone yelling, “You can't silence the savior. I'm just a prophet. Taking me away will not stop the sav—” The guard silenced the clone with a blow to the head and dragged him into the building.

Father's face was red, his jaw rippled, and a vein pulsed at his temple.

Grasping his hand, I turned toward the crowd. “Good people, all!” I said, my voice high to help me project. “Be not concerned with madmen—” Ember brought me a microphone. “Be not concerned with madmen or so-called prophets. They bear false witness at inopportune times, finding purpose and meaning in random events. I urge you to pay no mind. Today's events have a disturbing quality to them, but there is no agent behind their coincidence. Tomorrow it will rain as it has always rained, no more and no less. Tomorrow, gladborn and labgrown will work together as yesterday, harmonious in their relations.

“We have celebrated enough for tonight. By concluding early, perhaps we bring balance to a day sadly lacking balance. I ask that you return to the warmth of your homes and the embrace of your loved ones, satisfied that you have shown me adequate honor. Thank you all, for being here to celebrate my adulthood with me. Gladborn be to you all!”

Reading the crowd, I breathed a sigh. They appeared to accept my reassurances—for now. I turned to Father and pulled him close.

His arms went around my shoulders. His gaze was distant and his face was pale.

I put my forehead to his neck as though seeking comfort. “Mother and I will see the guests off,” I said, my voice low. “Mobilize our security forces—major intersections, gravrail stations, and the spaceport. All the highly visible locations. The people must feel protected.” I drew back and stood erect, my shoulders back, my gaze level.

He met my gaze and his color returned. “Yes. Yes, of course.” A hint of smile touched his face as he too straightened to his full height. “See you back home when?”

“About midnight,” I said, standing on my toes to kiss his cheek.

Father nodded and strode up the steps, issuing orders to subordinates, his confidence back.

I found Jason and looked for Mother.

Madeleine Strange was already busy at the exit, wishing guests well.

“Come stand beside me while I help Mother see our guests off,” I murmured to Jason, heading toward Mother, remembering to smile.

“Of course. That labgrown didn't look right.” Jason indicated the legislature steps with a glance over his shoulder.

“As if no longer imprinted.”

Jason met my gaze and nodded.

Mother smiled at us as we approached. “That was sensible, Dear. With the rain coming down like that, no one was enjoying themselves anyway. Be gladborn, Lord Lakeland. Pity you came halfway across the quadrant for this. My apologies.”

“None needed, First Lady Strange,” Jason said. “What could you have done?”

“Moved to a different planet,” Mother quipped. “Savannah is so much more habitable.”

“Let us help with the guests, Mother,” I said. “Jason and I will stand on this side.”

“Bless, Dear, and thank you.” Madeleine Strange turned to wish a guest well.

I cut across to the other side and began working the line, a smile fixed to my face and Jason beside me. In the two hours after my introduction, he'd seen to my needs while I concentrated on the guests. Since I'm not a social butterfly, floating from conversation to conversation took work. Such an event would've been easy if I'd had Mother's enthusiasm for socializing.

Seeing the guests off one by one, I watched Mother across from me. She's so smooth and suave. How does she do it? Earlier, during the ball, she'd stayed to one side, greeting those who came past to give their respects, but watching me and nodding encouragement whenever I glanced in her direction. On any other occasion, she'd be in the middle of the gathering, having secured the center of attention with her wit and charm. Tonight, she'd been different – subdued and passive.

At one point, I'd glanced across the crowd toward Mother. She'd been talking with Lozano Lisbon, Minister of the Economy, both of them facing the crowd, their lips barely moving. I remembered the short conversation I'd had with him earlier.

“Lady Allison,” Lozano Lisbon said, bowing deeply to me. The grizzled face, with a short, graying beard, split with a smile. He extended his hands.

The hair on my neck prickled. “Lord Minister Lisbon,” I replied, nodding. I allowed him to grasp my hand briefly, and then withdrew it as though from a fire.

His face clouded at the insult. “You should have a care, Lady. Adulthood has far more dangers than childhood does.” His voice nonchalant, Lisbon folded his hands in front of him.

“All the more so in my situation, Lord Minister.”

“Particularly in yours, Lady. Don't forget that the degree of security is relative to the dangers at hand and the protections in place.”

“What do you hope to achieve with your choice of topics?”

He hesitated, betraying his surprise. “I don't know whether you mock me or insult me, Lady.”

“What you choose to infer is your affair. Why choose such subjects?”

“What seems a protection may be dangerous, Lady—and a danger, protection.” He smiled and glanced at Jason. “Wouldn't you agree, Lord Lakeland?”

“Most things are just as they seem, Lord Minister Lisbon.” Jason's face and voice were bland.

“Forgive me, Lords, for not introducing you to each other,” I said, doing so.

They exchanged greetings. Watching Lisbon, I could see the neurons firing.

His gaze darted to me, as though he realized he'd been caught. “A long and glorious life to you, Lady,” he said, nodding and striding away.

“Why do I feel … tarnished?” Jason said, watching him go.

“That's the taint of corruption,” I'd replied. “Lisbon would be governor if he had his way.”

The prickling on my neck earlier turned to a shiver as I greeted another guest. Lisbon had spoken with my mother after my exchange with him. Jason had offered me a drink right then, distracting me, and when I looked back over, Lisbon had been gone.

I looked across the line at my Mother again. What had Mother and Lisbon been discussing? What could they possibly have to discuss?