17 Promise Me One Thing
Promise Me One Thing
S pie gripped the balcony’s railing, breathing in the faintly briny air. From there, bathed in the glow of dusk, the beach was visible, the distant crash of waves soothing. The evening chill nipped at her bare upper back. Expan’s air. Ah, she’d missed this.
She’d been outfitted in a strapless burgundy dress, the color meant to complement her brother’s suit. Elbow-length white gloves encased her fingers, her hair pinned high and toppling over her right shoulder.
“And turn back to me,” said Kalvin, his baritone steady in her ear. Their pre-broadcast interview was live, which meant all her directives had to be inaudible. “Just like that; perfect. Now Nix will join you from the right, but keep your eyes ahead on the camera. Ignore the drone above.”
At this point in her life, Spie hardly needed the coaching. She’d been in front of cameras since before she could walk. But having Kalvin in her ear was soothing—outside of immediate family, he’d been the most constant figure in her life.
Her brother’s shadow appeared, blocking the day’s final rays of sunlight from warming her skin.
“Your Highnesses!” Graham Grey, Love Galaxy ’s host, pranced into view of the cameras, dropping immediately into a proper two-thirds bow. “What an honor for one as lowly as I to bask in your enlightened presence.”
Will alone kept Spie from rolling her eyes. “Mr. Grey,” she said, careful to keep her tone light. Acting skills were just as crucial to being a politician as political acumen. “How wonderful to meet you.”
This was Graham’s third season hosting Love Galaxy after hitting stardom as the lead in some detective holodrama.
With thick brown hair gelled perfectly to swoop across his forehead and a classically handsome jawline, Graham was an exaggeratedly dapper man.
A caricature of exactly the type of person one might imagine would host reality holovision.
“There’s magic in the air tonight,” he said.
“Can you sense it? I myself, and the whole of the empire, am eager to know how you both are feeling right now, moments before you begin your journeys to finding true love. Oh! I can’t even say it without grinning.
Our very own prince and princess! What a groundbreaking year; the might of Expan has never been stronger! ”
“I know he’s annoying, Your Highness. Just keep that smile on your face.”
Spie really did appreciate Kalvin. She fell into answering Graham’s questions, putting on a show of excitement. Nicky did the same, in his own demure way.
It’s your final performance, she reminded herself.
“Since last night’s promo, we’re all buzzing about this year’s contestants.
” He read off of cue cards projected by a PA.
“I know it’s a bit premature, but I can’t help but ask—anyone already caught your eye?
We’ve got quite the incredible lineup this season.
From Her Highness, Ambassador-Princess Cailin Frederik of the Galactic Republic of New Terra, to your”—he waggled his eyebrows at Spie—“very own ex-girlfriend, Arbora VinVanxin, to the show’s first ever fringe-system contestants!
I know we’re all curious to know more about Artemis Ialan, the girl who accosted you in the X System.
It’s truly the most exciting season of Love Galaxy in generations! Maybe ever!”
Spie leaned closer to him, as though divulging a secret. She imagined the camera zooming in on her face. “You want to know who I have my eye on?”
Graham nodded eagerly, a puppet on strings. “I’m dying to know! Absolutely dying!”
“Well, in that case...” Spie grinned widely and winked at the show’s host. “You’ll just have to wait and see!”
“Aww, Highness , you got me there!” Graham pulled back with a good-humored laugh.
“All right, all right, just a few more questions and I’ll free you both to meet the suitors sure to steal your hearts.
Now, I don’t know if I should ask this, but”—Graham’s mouth formed a sly grin directed at the camera—“we’ve been having such a fun night already!
” He focused his gaze back on Spie and Nix.
“Have you two decided what to do if you both fall for the same contestant? We’ve never had two stars, after all! I, for one, am ravenous for the drama.”
“Nicky and I have always been competitive.” Spie nudged her shoulder against her brother’s. “We’re Expani, after all. If we fall in love with the same contestant, then we’ll have to see who the lucky lady picks. But don’t expect me to go down without a fight.”
“And do you think she’s in there?” Graham asked. “Your one true love? Your soulmate?”
Nicky took this one. “You know, Graham, the scientist in me says there’s no such thing. Our universe is too big for such finite probabilities. But the romantic in me?” He offered the camera a rare, heartbreaking smile. “The romantic in me believes she’s here. And I cannot wait to find her.”
By the time the cameras went offline, the sun had slipped below the horizon and the temperature was beginning to nip. Spie accepted a shawl from one of the waiting attendants.
Graham adjusted the bowtie on his plaid suit.
“I’m genuinely excited to work with the both of you, Your Highnesses.
This is a monumental moment in my career.
” With the cameras off, the exaggerated enthusiasm vanished from his tone and demeanor.
Bending at the waist, he dipped into a quarter-bow. “I’ll see you both inside.”
Kalvin approached. “Blessing Stone says the contestants are ready for you both.”
“Wish I could say I was ready for them.” Nicky looked liable to leap from the balcony and sprint for the horizon. He turned to gaze toward the dark ocean. He got contemplative when he was nervous. Scratch that; he was always contemplative.
Spie laid her white-gloved hand over her brother’s black-gloved one. “Thank you, Kal. We’ll be right in.”
Kalvin inclined his head in a precise show of deference and, with a few curt directives, corralled everyone off the balcony.
Spie withdrew her hand from her brother’s and leaned back against the railing, facing the manor while her brother faced the beach.
Opposite directions. Just as their lives were headed.
Nicky, for ultimate power and responsibility.
Spie, for a quiet, obligation-free life.
What would she do with the freedom? Perhaps start up a violin conservatory, spend her days immersed in nothing more consequential than music theory.
“Promise me one thing, baby brother,” she whispered, her words barely audible over the breeze sweeping in from the sea. “Promise me that we come first, you and I.”
“They’re out there, you know.” The leather of Nicky’s gloves creaked as he tightened his grip on the railing.
“Past this coast, this ocean, our moons. Lurking at the edge of our empire. Waiting. Stirring.” He swung his fevered gaze to her.
“That attack on the refueling station wasn’t an isolated incident.
The Uiyoni are mobilizing. For two and a half decades, we’ve kept them sequestered in their little corner of the universe, thinking ourselves safe.
I worry about the state of the empire we’re poised to inherit.
And instead of finding a solution, we’re stuck here, forced to play dress-up. ”
Something hummed. Spie glanced skyward, caught a glimpse of a patrolling hover-car arcing over the manor.
“I won’t stand here and minimize the seriousness of the Uiyoni threat,” she said.
“But I think you’re letting far-off worries distract you from your more-immediate worries about the show.
The Uiyoni will still be there when we’re done. ”
Nix inhaled audibly, exhaled slowly. “Mother’s distraction plan is shortsighted.
She wants to keep pretending as though the Uiyoni are nothing but a bad bedtime story.
But they’re real, Spie. And they’re nothing like the other three alien species the empire’s encountered.
We can’t control them, and even if we could, they’d never be content to live peaceably alongside us as the Swimmers do in Hirain.
The things the Uiyoni can do...We should be informing people, preparing them.
So what if it’ll scare the populace? They should be scared.
We should all be terrified. They’re monsters. And humans—we’re their natural prey.”
“We beat them once before—”
“No, we didn’t.” Nicky ran a hand through his hair.
“I’ve been reading classified files from the war—from Grandfather’s reign.
That story about Annie’s Sacrifice ? It’s a lie—propaganda.
The Uiyoni retreated, yes, but you know we’ve been engaging in border conflicts with them for decades.
And now they’re punching through our defenses.
Did you know their star is dying? It’s going to go supernova sometime in the next century. That means they’re desperate.”
Spie shook her head at her brother. “You’re talking like we’re already in the middle of a war, Nicky.
But look around. We’re not. Unless you count reality holovision as war, which.
..I’m not saying it isn’t, but also, it isn’t.
Admittedly, I haven’t read an intelligence report in over a year, but I’m not entirely ignorant.
Yes, the Uiyoni are a problem, but they aren’t one we can solve today.
Right now, you need to be here. Not light-years away. That’s what the Fleet is for.”
Nicky swung his gaze back to the crashing waves. “You asked me to promise you that we come first, you and I. But if I’m to become emperor, then the empire will always come first. Before reality holovision or consorts. I shouldn’t promise to put anyone or anything above the empire. Above humanity.”