The Academy

mY cOPy <3

• Title Page
  
• Chapter One
  
• Chapter Two
  
• Chapter Three
  
• Chapter Four
  
• Chapter Five
  
• Chapter Six
  
• Chapter Seven
  
• Chapter Eight
  
• Chapter Nine
  
• Chapter Ten
  
• Chapter Eleven
  
• Chapter Twelve
  
• Chapter Thirteen
  
• Chapter Fourteen
  
• Chapter Fifteen
  
• Chapter Sixteen
  
• Chapter Seventeen
  
• Chapter Eighteen
  
• Chapter Nineteen
  
• Chapter Twenty
  
• Chapter Twenty-one
  
• Chapter Twenty-two
  
• Chapter Twenty-three
  
• Chapter Twenty-four
  
• Chapter Twenty-five
  
• Chapter Twenty-six
  
• Chapter Twenty-seven
  
• Chapter Twenty-eight
  
• Chapter Twenty-nine
  
• Chapter Thirty
  
• Chapter Thirty-one
  
• Chapter Thirty-two
  
• Chapter Thirty-three
  
• Chapter Thirty-four
  
• Chapter Thirty-five
  
• Chapter Thirty-six
  

“The time has come for you to uphold the honorable name of Jameson. I have enrolled you in The Royal Academy for the last two years of your education and from there, you should get a commission in the Space Corps with ease. I fully expect you’ll be commanding your own ship by the time you’re twenty.”

The words filled my heart to bursting, excitement bubbling up inside me like the fizz in a carbo drink from Earth-that-was. There was only one problem—they were meant for my twin brother, Kristopher, not for me.

Kristopher and I were the closest of siblings. Years of chronic lung disease as a child had kept my brother home and I had stayed with him instead of being sent to a charm school for privileged young ladies and married off, like others of my social class and sex. I had taken classes alongside Kristopher from the first, although I was a woman and, to my father’s way of thinking, not worth educating. But my brother worked better with me beside him, a fact not lost on his many tutors. Now, though, he was going where I could not follow. Taking classes in the comfort of one’s home was vastly different from enrolling in the Academy.

“Father, no.” My brother’s mild brown eyes grew large with horror. “I cannot go to the Academy now—not when Maestro says my technique is almost perfected. I need to practice for
hours
each day. I can work my lessons into my practice time here, with my tutors, but I am quite sure that wouldn’t be possible at the Academy.”

Our father frowned, his face filling the viewscreen which hung over the fireplace like a thundercloud. “I only allowed you to start that music nonsense in the first place because you were too sickly for school. But my physician tells me you’re sound now—completely fit. As there is no longer any need for such idle distractions, I expect you to drop it immediately.”

“Drop it?” Kristopher’s face went pale. “
Drop it?
But Father, soon I’ll be eligible to audition for a chair in the First System Orchestra and Maestro thinks I have a really good chance of—”

“I said you will drop it and drop it you will!” My father’s eyes, the same dark brown as my brother’s and my own, blazed with anger. “What good is having a son to carry on my name if he does not honor it in the correct fashion? There are four Star Commanders in our family and two Fleet Admirals, including myself. You will continue that proud tradition as you should.”

“But Father—” Kristopher began.

“I know you are capable,” our father continued, ignoring my brother’s protests. “Your Astro Navigation tutor has told me what excellent work you do and your Inter-dimensional Calculus teacher says he has never seen such a prodigy. I expect you to be at the top of your classes.”

Kristopher and I exchanged a glance.
I
was the one who had excellent marks in Astro Navigation and Inter-dimensional Calculus . I did almost all the work his tutors assigned to him in order to give him more time with his precious violin. The one thing I could not do for him was his physical education classes. But even there his tutor had been lenient, teaching me to fence and fight alongside Kristopher because he requested it, saying that having his twin sister nearby made him feel stronger. And now we were about to be separated forever.

Father probably wouldn’t have let me stay with Kristopher in the first place if our mother had not died soon after our birth. Being raised by a succession of tutors and nannies had made my brother and I cling together and form a bond much closer than that of most siblings. Often I had shored up my brother’s failing health, getting him through one medical crisis after another through sheer force of will. But now that his lungs were strong and healthy, my father thought no more of separating us and casting me aside than he did of sending my brother to a school he was unfitted for—one he would surely hate. The honor of our family name was all he cared about—all he had
ever
cared about.

“Father, you cannot do this,” I said, stepping forward and placing myself between my brother and the viewscreen. “Music isn’t just a pastime or diversion to Kristopher, it is his
life.
He doesn’t want to be a Star Commander or an Admiral.”

“Silence, young lady!” Father’s face went nearly purple with rage. “You have nothing to do with this.”

“I have
everything
to do with it.” I lifted my chin. “I love Kristopher as you do not—as you
cannot
since you haven’t been to see us since our twelfth birthday.”

Father glared at me. “My duties to the Corps keep me busy, as you well know. Besides, between tutors and nannies and butlers and maids, I pay out enough money keeping the two of you in style—”

“Money isn’t love, Father,” I interrupted quietly. “I love Kristopher and want what is best for him—going into the Royal Academy and the Space Corps would make him miserable.”

“Get out of the way and let him speak for himself,” Father demanded. “Kristopher, stop hiding behind your sister like a coward!”

Reluctantly, my brother stood and took his place by my side. “Father, what Kristina says is right. I have no head for flight coordinates and no stomach for commanding other men. I only want to play and compose.
Please
, Father.”

Father’s eyes flicked angrily from one to the other of us. “Disgusting, the both of you! When I think of the trouble I have gone to, engaging the very best tutors to get Kristopher ready for this moment…and now that he is finally fit and able to uphold our family honor, what thanks do I get? This…this sniveling display of cowardice and self-pity! Well,
enough.”

“Father,” Kristopher and I said together but he was truly enraged now, angrier than I had ever seen him.

“You,” he roared, pointing to Kristopher, “Will report to the Academy in two days time. If you do not, I will come myself and hunt you down. Though I warn you, if I have to do that the consequences will be severe.” He glowered at my brother and then turned his rage on me. ‘’And as for you, young lady, it’s high time you were married. Seventeen is a bit old for a girl to pledge her troth, to be sure, but I’ll be looking for a suitable match for you, never fear. And I’ll be certain to find someone with a firm hand who can control you.”

My heart seemed to leap into my throat. Surely he couldn’t mean it! I had been allowed to go so far past the marriageable age of fifteen without even talk of an engagement that I had hoped I would escape that fate entirely. But now it seemed that my freedom had been only an illusion—a prelude to the inevitable conclusion of matrimony. I knew what kind of man my father would choose—one who lacked a sense of humor, who felt it was his God-given right to discipline his wife and keep her in line. And likely one as old as he was.

“Please, Father,” I said, my lips almost too dry to speak. “I…I don’t want to get married.”

“No doubt you do not,” he sneered. “Don’t worry, Kristina, I’m going to be busy with my latest mission for at least the next few years—and I’m sure it will take me at least that long to find a man who will overlook your willful ways. But rest assured, by the time Kristopher graduates and gets his first command, you will be saying your vows.” He looked at both of us. “In short, Kristopher,
you
will report to the administrative office of the Academy first thing Monday morning. And Kristina,
you
will marry when and who I say. I’ll have no more backtalk from my children. Is that understood?”

There was nothing more we could do. Clutching hands like children lost in the woods, Kristopher and I nodded. “Yes, Father,” we murmured together.

“Good.” Father nodded briefly and then the viewscreen went blank.

The moment I was sure his presence was gone from our comfortable sitting room, I began to rage. “How dare he!” I dropped Kristopher’s hand and started pacing, my long skirts making a swishing noise like angry snakes around my legs. “How
dare
he try to dictate our lives?”

“He isn’t just trying, Kristina, he is
doing
it.” Kristopher sank into the worn, velvet brocade couch before the fireplace and buried his face in his hands. “What are we going to do? If I miss my chance now, I’ll never get it again. Maestro says there are always younger, hungrier players eager to audition for seats in the First System Orchestra.”

“At least you won’t be married to a man you don’t love—don’t even
know,
” I pointed out bitterly. “I’m going to be stuck somewhere having a stranger’s babies while you explore the stars.”

Kristopher looked up at me and shook his head. “I am sorry, dear sister. Truly, your fate is worse than mine though mine is bad enough. At least I shall not be subjected to marrying someone I don’t love.”

“Indeed you won’t.” I stared into the crackling orange and yellow flames of the fire. “Father won’t care what you do in your love life so long as you excel at the Academy.”

“But how can I?” my brother demanded. “I don’t know the first thing about Inter-dimensional Calculus or flight dynamics or anything like that.”

“I
tried
to teach you,” I reminded him. “But you always say you have to practice and then wander off with your violin.”

“I should have listened to you when you warned this day might come.” He shook his head. “But I’ve never had a head for all those numbers and formulas—not like you, Kris.” He sighed. “Sometimes I feel we were switched into the wrong skins at birth. If I were female, no one would care if I wanted to stay home all day and play music.”

“And if I were male, no one would think twice about admitting me to the Academy or the Space Corps,” I said, continuing his thought.

“Indeed.” Kristopher heaved another sigh. “If only we could switch places.”

An idea began to form in my mind. Slowly, I turned to him. “Why shouldn’t we?”

Kristopher frowned at me uncertainly. “Why shouldn’t we what? What are you talking about?”

“We’ll switch places. Don’t you see?” I jumped up and grabbed his hands, pulling him to his feet. “It’s perfect! I’ll dress up as you and go to the Royal Academy.”

“While
I
dress up as
you?
I don’t think so, sister dear.” Kristopher frowned and tried to withdraw his hands.

I held him fast, not letting him go. “Silly, you don’t have to dress like me—just keep to your room and practice,” I told him. “None of the servants know of Father’s plan and I’m sure you can get Maestro to go along with the scheme—he says you’re the best student he’s had in years and he won’t want to lose you. The only way anything will get back to Father is if you don’t report to the administrative office first thing Monday. As long as
I
show up, posing as you, no one will be the wiser.”