Chapter 23 The Summons, Eve
THE SUMMONS, EVE
Above my bedside table, the holographic display materializes, its green script sharpening into my name.
“Confirmed,” I answer.
Then another announcement:
“Protocol Notice: Both Sovereigns are in residence. High Formality Observance required. Attendance: Mandatory. Location: Staff Dining Hall for the first meal.”
I sit up quickly, clutching the sheet against my chest, remembering the note from last night. Sleep naked. I swallow hard, telling myself that Sovereign Rafe can’t be upset with me. I did as he said. I took off my pajamas and used his device to sleep. And it did help. I didn’t wake up again.
I take a quick shower and then dress in my uniform.
I notice with some alarm that my most sensitive areas feel slightly sore, as if the Venus Lock had been rubbing me in the night.
I blush as I remember the dream that woke me.
The one with me in the garden with the Devil.
And I remember with clarity taking the companion collar from the serpent. It was a dream, that’s all.
In the corridor, I follow my line on the wall to the formal Staff Dining Hall. I can’t help but notice that the bottom of the wall now glows green instead of blue, and I swear it’s brighter.
When the Sovereigns are not in residence, we are allowed to eat where we want, and I’ve been meeting Lira in the small canteen near the receptionists’ rooms for meals.
So as I walk in, I’m awed by the Staff Dining Room.
It reminds me of a medieval high-tech great hall; all the tables are tiered and every seat marked with small, glowing sigils.
The highest table blazes with light at the top of the hall, but its chairs are empty.
No Sovereigns. I feel disappointed at not being able to see them in person.
Especially after receiving the note from Sovereign Rafe last night.
Hadn’t the message said…
Lira catches my arm gently from behind. “Formality is absolute whether the Sovereigns are physically in the dining hall or not,” she whispers. “Follow my lead.”
I nod and lower my eyes as we move to the receptionists’ tier.
The meal begins in silence. Plates glide into place, delicate alien fruits, Silver rolls steaming, bowls of iridescent broth.
Then, instead of tea or water as I requested, an attendant places a crystal goblet in front of me.
“A gift from the Sovereigns,” he says loud enough for the whole hall to hear.
I look up at their empty table, then back at the drink. It glows faintly gold, streaked with silver.
I glance at Lira, confused. “What is this?” I whisper.
“You must drink it,” she says under her breath. “It’s a sacrament from the Sovereigns: the body consuming power, the lesser taking the greater into themselves.” When I still hesitate, she adds, “It’s safe; it’s like starfruit.”
The whole dining room is silent, and although I’m staring at this strange drink, I can feel the weight of everyone’s gaze on me, waiting.
My cheeks are on fire as I lift the goblet carefully and bring it to my lips.
The liquid is thicker than water, smooth and heavy on my tongue, sweet with something like pear, but carrying a faint metallic tang I can’t place.
It slides down my throat in a few swallows.
When I put the goblet back on the table, no one meets my eyes, but I can feel the awareness radiating from every other person, like I have just done something that means something to them but that I don’t understand myself.
I sit very still and clasp my hands in my lap. Whatever was in that drink is inside me now, and I try not to let my imagination run wild with what it could have been or what it might have meant.
RAFE
From the private chamber above the hall, I sit with my brother, watching her. She lifts the goblet with both hands like a chalice, still so obedient.
“She doesn’t even hesitate,” Lorian says beside me.
I watch mesmerized by our new human employee as her pink lips close around the rim of the Devotional goblet and she gently tips the vessel back to let its contents slide down her small throat.
I watch with satisfaction as her cheeks flush pink when she lowers the empty goblet and puts it back on the table, then looks around the hall at all of her colleagues’ eyes on her. She knows she missed something and she’s trying to work it out. Endearing.
“She swallowed beautifully. Like she was born to it,” Lorian says. “Our claim, marked in her body before she’s even spread her legs for either of us.”
“She is ours now. Everyone in that hall saw it, and everyone but her knows it.”
EVE
After an hour at the reception desk, my nerves are frayed.
Lira asks, “Are you okay?”
I don’t tell her about my dreams or the neural crystal from Rafe. I tell her about what’s to come. “I'm meeting with the Sovereign Directors tonight. They confirmed the time late last night. And after breakfast today, I feel shaken. What was that special drink all about?”
Her green eyes widen, then narrow as though she’s measuring her words. “Eve… you truly don’t know?”
I shake my head. “Of course I don't know. It wasn’t in my employee handbook.”
“No, it wouldn’t be.” For a moment she looks as if she’ll say more, then she presses her lips together. “The only thing you need to understand is that no one at our level has ever been given such a thing so publicly before.”
“What is that supposed to mean?”
“It means protection,” she says in a low voice. “If the Sovereigns wanted you as Lorian wanted Denise, as a quasi-companion, they would not have bothered with the formality. But this morning, they marked you with a cultural ritual.”
“Marked me?”
“Yes. And everyone in that hall saw it. They’ll know now you stand under the Sovereigns’ notice in a way that sets you apart from the rest of us.”
“Is that a good thing?”
“If they offered that kind of protection to me, I would be honored for the rest of my life,” she replies.
“I’m nervous about meeting them privately,” I admit.
“I envy you, and so does every woman on Reima Two. I’ve only ever met them privately once, when I first signed my contract for the Celestial Spire.
It was in Alba; by law, Reima Two doesn’t allow women to leave the planet without certain safeguards.
It was a big deal. The Sovereigns were there, and doctors had to be present to confirm I wasn’t being coerced.
But it was over in a few minutes. I signed my name, the doctors assured everyone I was doing this of my own volition, and then the Sovereigns thanked me for taking the position. ”
Her words make me feel even more nervous. “What if I’m a disappointment to them?”
“You won’t be. If they chose you, it means they already see something in you.
And besides, they’re devastatingly handsome.
Every woman imagines herself in their orbit, even if it’s only fantasy.
You’ll understand when you meet them.” Then her voice drops to a near-whisper.
“Just be careful around Sovereign Lorian. Remember that things became complicated for Denise when she let him get too close.”
The warning makes me uncomfortably aware of the Venus Lock pressing against me.
“Oh, and there's a High Table tonight,” Lira adds. “So you’ll see them from across the dining hall after your private audience.”
A double assault. High Table with all its rigid rituals after my private audience with the Sovereigns themselves. “Will I be given that special drink again?”
She looks at me like I’m a deer in the headlights. “I don’t think so, but I can’t say for sure.”
Before I can push her for more information, we receive notification a guest is on their way in.