Epilogue
Vivian rose early and set her coffee maker to brew a single cup. In the window of her apartment, the twilight-blue glow of the Martian sunrise was still visible, rising slowly between the tall buildings.
From her narrow closet, she pulled out the crimson dress from Presentation Day, laundered, mended, and pressed.
She wasn’t accustomed to donning the costume of a Martian aristocrat in her new life—fastening the buttons on the back of her dress required a few painful contortions, and the hairstyle she managed to pin up beneath her lace hat was rather plain.
When finished, she stared at her reflection.
The woman who looked back at her from the tiny bathroom mirror wasn’t a stranger.
She wasn’t an avatar for Martian dreams of the future.
Or a homage to a rose-colored past. No, she was an Earther refugee with a ninth-grade education who had the audacity to believe she could succeed as the first non-Martian to attend the Arcadia College of Law.
And she needed to look the part.
Vivian hefted the messenger bag that she’d carefully packed the night before onto one shoulder and stepped into the building’s lift.
When walking through the streets of Arcadia, she’d become accustomed to a measure of fear, but this was an Earther apartment building, and the two Earther elevator passengers grinned upon seeing her ensemble.
One offered a handshake and the other a fist bump.
When she stepped out of the modest lobby of her building, she stopped short. Three Earther women, dressed as she was in Martian aristocratic finery, waited for her on the street.
“You didn’t have to come,” Vivian objected.
Luz took her arm as they began to walk. “We did.”
Camille cracked her knuckles. “You’re the first Earther at this fancy-ass school. We need to make sure they know how to treat you right.”
“Look at what she’s wearing!” Delilah pointed with one paint-stained hand. “I don’t think anyone Vivian sees today will forget what the Red Woman can do with her greatsword.” She smirked at her sister. “Caspian tells me you’ve been practicing.”
“I have.” She and Xavier had been giving August regular heartburn with their armed practices.
But her goal wasn’t to learn how to defeat an opponent.
She already knew she could do that. What she most wanted to learn was to control the weapon.
She wanted to make sure she could stop herself. That she didn’t have to kill.
Luz suddenly reached out to grab Vivian’s hand, pressing it against her round belly. “Feel that?”
Under her palm, Luz’s stomach lurched. Vivian gasped involuntarily. “Is that the baby?”
“She’s a busy little lady. Might take after her father, I’m afraid.” Luz smiled with affection as she said it.
“Mine is waking me up in the middle of the night.” Camille rubbed her belly, and the Martian steel of her wedding band flashed on her finger.
“Oh, I almost forgot, Viv baby,” Luz said. “Wim asked me to pass a message on to you, from the Intelligence.”
Vivian raised an eyebrow. “You’re playing messenger for the Intelligence now?”
Luz’s free arm reached toward her forehead before she jerked it down. “Just this once. The Intelligence wishes you luck on your first day of law school and looks forward to future battles in court. Preferably bloodless.”
Vivian bared her teeth. “Is that right? I anticipate many custody battles on the horizon. We have a lot of work left to do.” Fully half of the Red Mothers had elected to leave their partners, and those who’d chosen to continue their pregnancies faced uncertain co-parenting arrangements.
And the future role of the painful calcium treatments remained uncertain.
“You’ll be leading the charge.” Delilah hugged Vivian tightly. “I can’t wait to see you be the first Earther to graduate from a Martian law school. Maybe we can convince Mom and Dad to attend your graduation in person.”
“Don’t hold your breath.” So far, her parents had shown no interest in their daughters’ frequent invitations to join them on Mars. Not when they couldn’t bring their beloved rottweiler.
The women arrived at the law school building and stood outside the doors.
Luz gave her arm one last squeeze. “Come for dinner tomorrow? I want to hear all about your day.”
“Do you think Wim and Xavier can avoid a fight this time?”
Luz grinned. “No guarantees.”
“We’ll be there.” She was glad the invite wasn’t for tonight. She and Xavier already had plans. The best plans. Sharing a bottle of Martian ice wine to celebrate her first day before Xavier curled his lanky body around hers in her Earther-sized bed.
Vivian gave one last wave to her friends and stepped into the building. The Earther security guard’s eyes lit up as he nodded in greeting. The other students stared with a mix of awe and terror, and one dropped their drink with a loud clatter.
Smoothing down her red dress, Vivian stepped into the first day of her new life.