Earth Flight (23 page)

‘Let it be heard in the halls that this is the noble Fian Andrej Eklund, adopted son presumptive of the clan of Tellon Blaze under the precedent of Paul and Kairos.’

This time I was ready for the sound of the drum and for him to repeat the words twice more to bind the adoption under clan law. As before, the Fifty stood, and there were formal bows before the clan started hugging Fian. I went forward to hug him myself, but Dragon Tell Dramis blocked my way.

‘Oh no you don’t.’ He gave me an amused smile. ‘Hugging each other before the betrothal would be scandalously improper, and besides you both have to go and change now.’

He ushered me off through a side door. I stepped into what seemed like darkness compared to the glaring lights of the platform, and gave a startled squeak as someone grabbed my arm.

‘Jarra, Jarra, Jarra, come on!’

‘Issette! You scared me to death.’

She pulled a buggy-eyed, incredulous face. ‘You’re never scared of anything. Come on!’ She dragged me down a corridor. ‘They’ve started approving the betrothal contract, so we don’t have any time to spare.’

I was thrust into a room where Dalmora and Amalie were waiting. Issette pushed me straight past them and behind a screen. ‘Change quickly!’

I gave a single horrified glance at the dress hanging on the wall. The skirt was so long it would trail on the floor behind me, and the top … ‘I can’t wear that!’

‘Yes you can,’ said Dalmora’s voice. ‘You’ll look beautiful, Jarra.’

‘But it’s indecent!’ I shrugged off my toga and yanked my tunic over my head, losing my laurel wreath in the process. ‘People will see my fronts!’

‘That’s a perfectly respectable dress for both Alpha and Beta sectors,’ said Dalmora. ‘A bit low cut for Gamma, Delta, and Epsilon, but …’

‘My point is that it’s a bit low cut for Earth!’ I tugged off my boots and leggings.

‘It’s an exact reproduction of the dress Helena wore at her betrothal to Paul,’ said Dalmora. ‘The newzie channels have been constantly giving sexual content warnings because they’re showing live vid feed of a Betan betrothal. Half the audience will feel cheated that you’re wearing clothes at all, so a slightly revealing dress isn’t going to worry anyone.’

‘But …’

‘Jarra, this is chaos important for all the Handicapped,’ said Issette, ‘so shut up and put your dress on!’

I gave a moan, reluctantly pulled on the dress, thrust my feet into some delicate silver strappy objects, and turned to look at my reflection in a nearby mirror. The dress was a lovely thing in shimmering white and silver. I was showing more of my body than I would in my skintight, but it wasn’t quite as bad as I’d expected. The back was terrifyingly low, but showing my back wasn’t as bad as …

I stepped out from behind the screen, and submitted to being preened by Dalmora and having a garland of flowers put on my head. ‘People keep talking about Helena, Paul and Kairos,’ I said. ‘Who the chaos were they?’

‘You don’t know?’ Dalmora’s eyes had the tearful look that always meant she was thinking of something romantic. ‘All the newzies have been showing vids about them for the last day. The greatest love story in Betan history!’

I blinked. We were re-enacting the greatest love story in Betan history for the newzies! Had my clan thought of this, or was it Psych Division’s idea?

‘Helena was the daughter of Kairos,’ continued Dalmora. ‘She was lost as a baby when …’

‘We haven’t got time to tell stories now,’ said Amalie, ‘or we’ll miss our cue.’

Dalmora made a final adjustment to my flowers. ‘Yes, we’d better get moving.’

We went out of the door and turned right. I heard a voice speak in my ear.

‘This is Caius. Drago is leading the betrothal ceremony, so I’m taking over on cues and words. The Fifty are witnessing the betrothal contract now, so we need Jarra in position in three minutes. For chaos sake, warn me if she’s running late and I’ll get Drago to do some random talking.’

Dalmora tapped one of her hair slides. ‘We’re nearly there, Caius.’

‘Excellent,’ said Caius.

We took another right turn, went through a door, and arrived back in the dimly lit room I’d been in at the start of the ceremony. The same young man was there.

‘They were having trouble with the snow in rehearsal,’ he said, ‘but they think they’ve fixed the problem.’

Snow? I didn’t have time to ask why we had snow, because Caius was speaking in my ear.

‘Cue Jarra’s entry music.’

There was a soft piping music that I didn’t recognize. I took a deep breath, and the four of us went out into the darkness and stood on the centre aisle. Dalmora tugged me a little further to the right, and adjusted the folds of my dress. I still had absolutely no idea what was going to happen during this betrothal ceremony, and it was much too late to ask questions now.

I stared ahead at the brightly lit platform. The clan were at the back, while Fian was at the front, standing just to the left of the centre with Raven, Keon and Krath. They were all wearing some sort of archaic tunic and trousers, with short cloaks. Fian was in white and the rest of them in bluish grey. Since I was dressed as Helena, I guessed that Fian was in costume as the mysterious Paul.

‘Cue Jarra,’ said Caius.

Lights blazed on me, and white flakes started drifting down from the ceiling. I held out my hand to catch one and it melted on my skin. They really did have a snow machine up there.

I started pacing slowly towards the platform, and my nerves hit a crescendo of blind panic as I saw all the faces turning to look at me.

‘Fian’s group are to the left of the platform,’ said Caius’s voice. ‘Jarra’s group arrive on the platform and take up similar positions on the right. You should all face the audience at this point.’

My personal snowstorm widened as I reached the platform. I moved to my place with paranoid care, terrified of tripping over my dress. I’d been expecting Drago to appear at this point, but it was his father who took the centre of the stage, carrying a partially unrolled parchment scroll. Was that genuine ancient parchment, or …?

‘Everyone turn to face Dragon,’ said Caius.

We followed his instructions and I saw Fian looking at me, his eyes dropping to study the low neckline of my dress. He really was a shockingly badly-behaved Deltan!

‘Fian Andrej Eklund, adopted son presumptive of the Tell clan,’ said Dragon, ‘do you consent to bind yourself in betrothal to Jarra Tellona Morrath, daughter of the Tell clan?’

Fian reluctantly tore his eyes away from my neckline to look at him. ‘Does the clan approve this?’

‘The clan approves this and has registered consent,’ said Dragon Tell Dramis.

‘Then I accept the wisdom of the clan and bind myself in betrothal to Jarra Tellona Morrath.’

Fian stepped forward and placed his hand on the scroll. I felt a true nardle. That scroll wasn’t just fake, it was a lookup in disguise, and Fian was giving his handprint for Earth Registry.

Fian stepped back to his place and it was my turn. After watching Fian do this, I barely needed the guidance of Caius speaking in my ear.

‘Jarra Tellona Morrath, daughter of the Tell clan, do you consent to bind yourself in betrothal to Fian Andrej Eklund, adopted son presumptive of the Tell clan?’ asked Dragon Tell Dramis.

‘Does the clan approve this?’ I asked.

‘The clan approves this and has registered consent,’ said Dragon Tell Dramis.

‘Then I accept the wisdom of the clan and bind myself in betrothal to Fian Andrej Eklund.’

I placed my hand on the scroll, it displayed the acknowledgement from Earth Registry, then Raven, Krath, Keon, Dalmora, Amalie and Issette all gave handprints to register as witnesses. When they were all back in their places, drumbeats sounded, and Dragon Tell Dramis stepped forward to speak.

‘Let it be heard in the halls that noble Fian Andrej Eklund and noble born Jarra Tellona Morrath are betrothed under the laws of Zeus and of Beta sector.’

I heard him repeat it twice more, then we did the bow to the Fifty routine and I could relax. The whole thing had been surprisingly painless for a Betan betrothal ceremony.

It was then I saw Drago had taken his father’s place and was smiling out at the audience. ‘The formal part of the ceremony, including the legalities specified in the reunification treaty of Artemis, is now complete. This is the point where we all relax and share with you some centuries old Betan betrothal traditions. Sadly, the size of the audience means we can’t have everyone throwing flower petals or dancing, but please join in when the singing starts.’

Betan betrothal traditions? We hadn’t finished? What exactly …?

Drago held out both arms towards the audience in a welcoming gesture. ‘You are guests in our hall on a joyful day. Celebrate with us, for out of the chill of winter comes spring, with the promise of new life and new beginnings.’

Fian took a pace towards me. ‘I come out of winter and see you, and there is spring around me.’

Oh no. This was obviously going to be chaos soppy and sentimental. Was it really traditional, or had the evil Psych Division been helping with the script? Caius’s voice was nervously nagging in my ear, so I made myself step forward and say it.

‘I come out of winter and see you, and there is spring around me.’

The snow, which had been gradually covering the platform with a crunchy white layer, suddenly stopped. Something pink was falling now. Flower petals.

‘I offer you my love, my life, my honour, and my future,’ said Fian.

He had an earnest look on his face, which made the scripted words sound truly personal. I had a nardle emotional moment as I heard him say them, but then the horrible truth hit me. I was going to have to say this too!

I hesitated, and saw Fian’s earnest expression change to amusement. Caius’s voice was prompting me with the words. I opened my mouth and closed it again.

Drago grinned. ‘We know you’re a little shy about these things, Jarra, so we ordered plenty of flower petals. You can take all the time you need.’

‘Psych Division reports all the chat webs just went crazy,’ said Caius in my ear. ‘People love seeing Jarra’s vulnerable emotional moments. They’re saying this is even better than the bit in the clan vid where …’

I groaned, then saw Fian’s face and completely forgot our audience. ‘Stop laughing at me!’

‘I can’t help it,’ said Fian.

‘Would some wine help you relax, Jarra?’ asked Drago. ‘You’ll be sharing a goblet of wine with Fian later, but we could …’

I scowled at him. ‘I don’t need wine, I just …’

A movement caught my eye, as a tiny hovering vid bee furtively sneaked round to get a better view of my face. I gave it a look of pure horror, remembering exactly how many people were watching us, and there was a burst of laughter in the hall.

I groaned again, and Issette elbowed me painfully in the ribs. ‘Say your line, Jarra,’ she whispered, ‘or I’ll tell everyone what happened at the Year Day party when we turned sixteen.’

Issette has a very penetrating whisper. Another burst of laughter from the audience showed most of them had overheard her threat, and I was perfectly sure the vid feed would have picked it up as well. I obviously had to force myself to do this, or things would get even more embarrassing.

I faced Fian and took a deep breath. ‘I offer you my love, my life, my honour, and my future.’

‘I will come to you when spring turns to summer,’ he said.

‘I will come to you when spring turns to summer,’ I repeated, and the flower petals were replaced by some golden feathery things that I didn’t recognize.

‘Our future will be …’

Dragon Tell Dramis’s voice brutally interrupted Fian. ‘I deeply regret we have to stop these celebrations. The Tell clan has received a court order from Delta sector declaring this betrothal illegal.’

21

An hour later, I was sitting in a meeting room with Fian, General Torrek, Colonel Leveque, and Colonel Stone.

‘Unfortunately, Legal Division confirm the court order makes a valid legal argument,’ said Leveque. ‘Apparently, Earth does not belong to any sector, and is therefore excluded from cross-sector reciprocal agreements on recognition of marriage and other relationship contracts. That means Fian, as a citizen of Delta sector, cannot legally enter into a relationship contract while on Earth.’

‘I can’t believe this,’ said Fian.

‘I can,’ I said, bitterly. ‘It’s perfectly typical of the whole attitude to the Handicapped that the people making these laws forgot Earth wasn’t part of a sector.’

The door opened and Drago came in.

General Torrek waved at an empty chair. ‘What’s the situation like out there?’

Drago pulled a face of despair and sat down. ‘People are furious of course. The younger members of the Military clans are in hall 2. We’ve put a General from the Ray clan in with them, to make sure they don’t try to steal some fighters and attack Delta sector. Everyone else from Beta sector is having an angry conference in hall 1.’

‘Are people angry with your clan for making Jarra a member?’ asked General Torrek.

Drago shook his head. ‘This isn’t about Jarra being Handicapped any longer. The court order was sent to us
after
the Fifty had formally witnessed the betrothal. That makes it a direct insult to the banners of Beta sector, so everyone’s united against it.’

‘I bet my father’s behind that court order,’ said Fian.

‘The court order was obtained by a Deltan legal firm, but not one on Hercules,’ said Colonel Leveque. ‘There’s no evidence your father has even contacted them.’

‘My father’s more than bright enough to contact them without leaving evidence,’ said Fian.

‘The immediate problem isn’t who was behind the court order, but how we respond to it.’ General Torrek looked at Leveque. ‘What are our options?’

‘This centuries-old legal loophole in civilian law only prevents the betrothal being registered on Earth,’ said Leveque. ‘Jarra obviously can’t travel to another planet to register it, but we may be able to use Military regulations to resolve the problem. Planet First teams opening up new colony worlds work under strict quarantine restrictions, so a special clause in Military regulations allows officers entering into a relationship contract on a Military base to register it in a sector of their choice. Legal Division are checking the exact wording of …’