I nod, then work my way toward my mother. I push past two male protectors as they wave to me. “Good luck, Kal,” one of them—Byron—says.
“Thanks. You, too.” I smile, hoping he gets the placement he most wants. Though I’m not interested in finding a suitor—despite Lilly’s persistence—I’ve always treated the male protectors with respect. And Byron is one of the best. He deserves a high ranking.
Finally, I reach my mother. “What are you doing here?”
Her green eyes, which have dulled from their bright hue since her illness, light up. “I wouldn’t miss your promotion for anything,” she says. The deep-set wrinkles around her eyes crinkle as she smiles.
My chest aches, and I take a deep breath. “Where’s Emily?” I say low, glancing around. “You know you’re too sick to be—”
“Stop, Kal.” She waves her hand. “I’m not missing this. Now come here.” She extends her arms. I sigh and allow her to hug me and kiss my cheek. The soft, worn fabric of her jade tunic brushes against my neck. She pulls back. “Don’t forget to visit me on your leaves.” She coughs into her hand. “I’m not above storming the palace to check on my little girl.”
Mock-rolling my eyes, I give her the satisfaction of embarrassing me. “I promise.” I bring her into another tight hug, wondering how I’ll be able to do my duty while my thoughts will be constantly on her. “It’s not like I’m moving across the queendom. I’m literally right down the street.”
She smiles, and runs her thumb across my check as she inspects my face. Then she uses the sleeve of her tunic to polish the silver protector emblem of wings encircling the goddess sun on my uniform. “Alyah watch over you, Kaliope.”
At the use of my full name, something she only says when she’s extremely sentimental, I blink rapidly to clear my vision. I can’t let the other Nactue see me bawling like a little girl. They’re the fiercest women in all of Cavan. And now, I think proudly, I’m one of them.
My heart beats against my breastbone as I study her face. “Mom, please do everything Emily says.” I widen my eyes at her. “Promise you’ll take care of yourself.”
A sudden sadness fills her eyes, but then it’s quickly gone. “You have to stop worrying about me, Kal. You need to live your life.” Her eyes roam my face as if this will be the last time she’ll see it. “I will always be with you. No matter what. Now go.”
Hesitating a moment, I consider her words, but then see protectors moving to the front of the crowd. I have to trust that she’ll be all right. That Emily will take care of her, and that my salary will continue to provide enough to keep her in good health. I nod and give her a quick smile. “I’ll visit soon.”
Tugging the pleats of my cinched uniform straight, I make my way toward the front line of protectors. They’re positioned right below the dais where Empress Iana will give her address. I spot Lilly and Willa and push toward them, then stand next to Lilly at the end of the first row.
Willa leans forward and says around Lilly, “It’s great she could be here.”
I smile and give her a sure nod. What goes unsaid is that my father could not. That he never came to any of my functions even before he was committed. It reminds me of just how different my life is from theirs and most of the citizens of Cavan.
Proving further that my home life was not of the norm, Lilly waves to her parents across the swarming crowd. Her mother stands to the side of her father and a foot ahead of him, showing her dominance in their family.
Searching the crowd, I see the same display expressed in every family gathered here. It’s not a way to put men beneath women, or to declare us superior. It’s to show that Farrah has chosen the mother and wife to guard, protect, and govern those who she cares most for. It’s a symbol of a woman’s love and devotion to her family.
My parents never attended functions together, I fear, for this very display. My father is an oddity—his misogyny something I can’t place on his part. He didn’t grow up in Cavan, though. And he doesn’t speak of his homeland. But he never allowed my mother to be ahead of him in any public fashion.
And it’s that irony, of being raised in a queendom and also by a man who looked down on women, that makes me the oddity that I am. Had I been brought up in a normal household, maybe I’d have a different outlook on men in general. As it is, I simply want to serve my empress, my deities, and I don’t give men a second glance.
“Here we go,” Lilly says, drawing me out of my reverie as she nods toward the dais.
The all-women Cavan Council step up first and walk a straight line across the platform, then seat themselves on the raised bench behind the dais. Their neutral colored robes cling to them in the heat, and each member wears a vissa display over one eye with a short, thin silver microphone jutting from beneath the clear screen.
Councilor Herna stands before her place in the middle of the bench. “Welcome Cavan.” Her voice booms across the court as she raises her arms in gesture to the crowd. A giant blue-green hologram of her image projects before the immense palace. “Farrah bless this day.”
The crowd echoes her in unison with “Live well, in Farrah’s name”.
She then swings her arm toward the front of the palace as the massive white doors part. “Empress Iana,” she announces, and cheers erupt.
I clap and holler along, pride for our ruler filling me with elation. Empress Iana steps onto the platform and nods to her council, then raises her hands to the gathered crowd. Her white robe opens slightly in front, and peeking beneath is a gold and ochre dress. She’s the only empress to wear colors other than white. It was a matter of debate when she was first empowered ten years ago after the war. She was fourteen then, and one of the youngest ever to be sanctioned Empress of Cavan.
The Council gave in to her whims, stating that age would mature her ways, and she’d eventually accept the purity of white as her everyday apparel. But apparently, it hasn’t. A small smile tugs at the corner of my mouth. I can think of no one more deserving to dedicate my life to then of the young, willful empress.
She steps to the center of the dais and the crowd hushes. “Welcome Cavan,” she says, the silver microphone carrying her soft voice across the palace court. “Farrah has blessed this day, and given me the strength to announce this very difficult address.” She pauses, and murmurs rumble through the crowd. “As you know, the Perinyian Kingdom was attacked two days ago by Otherworlders. We feared the day they’d resurface and strike again. It was never a matter of if . . . but when.”
I glance over at Lilly. She’s absorbing every word as she unconsciously snaps her knuckles with her thumb. A nervous habit or hers. I reach out and touch her hand.
“Today should be filled with pride and celebration as our protectors advance to claim their accomplishments. However, it’s with a heavy heart that I rush their promotion and act quickly to secure our borders.”
My brow furrows, and I anxiously study the empress’s own pinched eyebrows. She runs her hands along her white robe, smoothing non-existent creases, then brushes her long blond tresses from her shoulder, lifting her head high. “Perinya—our allies, need provisions. They need our help to recover supplies lost to them, and our comfort in their time of loss. King Marcus was assassinated during the raid.” A shocked gasp sounds out through the court, and the empress bows her head. We follow her direction and bow our heads for a moment of silence—to honor Perinya’s fallen king. I knew by the look on Councilor Herna’s face during the broadcast there had to be more to it than an attack.