The Academy (36 page)

Inside the confines of the house, time dragged as it never had when Kristopher and I had lived here together. My brother had tried to contact me once, but the communication had been cut just a few minutes after the call was established. There was barely enough time for me to find out he was safe and beg him to stay where he was—away from the Prometheus system—before his beloved face vanished from the screen.

Other than that one brief distraction, I had no other entertainment or diversion. I was entombed in the house with nothing to do but think of how badly I had ruined my life. Sometimes I took out my brother’s old textbooks and read through them, wondering how North was doing in Astro Navigation without me. But I tried not to think about that too much—it was such a painful memory. Already everything we had gone through together at The Academy seemed like nothing but a very vivid dream—something that might have happened to some other girl in another life. Some things were still very clear though—try as I might I couldn’t get his last words out of my mind. Or that last look which told me how he hated me.

“Oh North,” I whispered, putting my head in my hands. “I’m so sorry. So terribly, terribly sorry…”

“Come now, none of that,” Anna said brightly, taking me by the arm. “In just a few hours your new husband will be here. It’s time we got you ready. And put a smile on your face—you don’t want him see you moping like that.”

I didn’t much care
how
the man my father had picked saw me, but I allowed Anna to bathe and dress me as though I was a doll. She brushed my hair, which had quickly grown back well past my shoulders, until it shone. Then she put me in a dress of crimson velvet.

Pink was the traditional marriage color in Victoria but due to my dubious past, I clearly wasn’t fit to wear it. I told myself defiantly that the deep red suited my pale complexion and dark hair and eyes better anyway—even if it was the color of harlots and whores. Besides, my husband-to-be ought to know exactly what he was getting—used goods. The crimson dress advertised that very well indeed.

I didn’t object to Anna’s primping until she tried to remove the silver and onyx stud from my ear. We were sitting in the drawing room, waiting, and Anna was putting the finishing touches on my outfit when she remarked, with studied casualness, that the earring didn’t really match the rest of my wedding outfit. “It should come out,” she said, moving to take it.

“No!’ I put a hand over it protectively as she tried to get past me to take it out. “No, I won’t take it out. I
won’t.”

“Think of your new husband,” Anna pleaded. “He’s coming to collect a wife—not a prossie! You mustn’t let him see you with that thing in your ear.”

“I don’t care how he sees me!” I shouted. “North gave it to me and I’m
not
taking it off.”

“I think it looks charming.”

The gruff, unfamiliar voice from the doorway of the drawing room made Anna and I both jump in surprise. There, standing just behind the butler who had clearly let him in, was a tall, imposing figure dressed all in black.

I examined him, wanting to see what my future husband looked like but unfortunately I couldn’t tell—he was wearing a plague mask. I bit my lip at the sight of the formless white shield which had only a long narrow slit for the eyes to look out of. Those who wore such masks were horribly disfigured by a space parasite which ate the flesh, leaving only the stark bones behind. 'Skelly heads' was the slang term for such unfortunates and they normally kept to themselves, only going out when necessary and never without their masks.

“Lady Kristina,” the butler intoned before I could say anything. “May I announce Lord Aldus Wanerite of Midas, your husband-to-be.”

“I…I…” I didn’t know what to say as Wanerite paced slowly forward and bowed over my hand. “I’m very pleased to meet you, my Lord,” I said at last.

He rose gracefully and regarded me through the narrow slit in his mask. I wished I could see his eyes but they were hidden, too far back for me to catch anything but a faint glitter behind the featureless plague mask.

“I’m very pleased to make your acquaintance, Kristina,” he said, in that gruff voice of his.

“And I, yours, my Lord,” I said, trying not to shrink away from him.

“Yes, extremely pleased—I can tell,” he said dryly. “I am afraid I’m not the type of husband you had dreamed of but I must say, you are everything I could wish for in a wife. I’m sure we’ll be very happy together.”

I bit my lip. “Y-yes, my Lord,” I managed to say.

“Why so glum, my dear?” he asked softly. “Do you think it impossible to learn to love the inner person, even if the outer appearance is not what you might wish it to be?”

I felt my cheeks go hot. “Of course not, my Lord. I’m…I’m sure that’s possible.”

“Quite possible, I assure you. Now come, let’s sign the papers and be on our way. I have a busy schedule to keep and my ship leaves at dawn.”

Since I was in disgrace, none of the clergy of Victoria would deign to preside over my wedding. A civil ceremony would have to do for now with a more formal one, my new husband promised in his gravely voice, when we got back to his home moon of Midas.

We stood before the viewscreen in the sitting room. It was the same place my ill begotten adventure had begun, with father ordering Kristopher and I around. My new husband-to-be took my hand and we waited until the screen came to life, showing a magistrate with my father, staring savagely over his shoulder.

Father glared at me the entire time we said our vows—my new husband in his gruff but steady voice and me tripping and stumbling over the words. It was only when the magistrate pronounced us man and wife and we signed the wedding contract that he nodded in approval.

“Kristina,” he said, stepping forward as the magistrate left the screen. “This man, Lord Wanerite, is your new lord and master. Be a good and faithful wife and obey him in all things and you
may
in time redeem yourself.” The curl of his lip and the sneer in his voice made it clear he considered this a remote possibility.

I didn’t want to be a 'good and faithful wife' but the choice wasn’t mine—I was married now whether I liked it or not.

“From this moment forth, I have no daughter.” Father’s eyes flicked over me in disgust. “And no son, either. If you see your brother again, tell him he’s disinherited. I want nothing more to do with either of you ungrateful wretches.”

“Yes, Father,” I whispered, my throat tight.

“Don’t call me that,” he snapped. “Not anymore.” He looked at my husband. “Lord Wanerite, Kristina is yours now, to do with as you please.”

My new husband nodded gravely. “I quite understand, Admiral Jameson. Have no fear—I will treat her well.”

Father snorted. “I don’t give a bloody damn how you treat her, Wanerite. Beat her every night if you like—just never let me see her again.”

Lord Waneright nodded again. “As you wish.”

“I consider this matter concluded,” Father said. The viewscreen went black and he was gone.

“I believe it’s time to go.” My new husband took my hand in his and interlaced our fingers firmly. There was something about his grip…I looked down to see his hands but they were gloved in black, hidden from my sight. I wondered how old he was—his voice sounded as though he gargled with gravel every morning. Was that the result of extreme old age or just another side effect of the parasites that had eaten his face?

I supposed I would find out soon enough.

Without protest, I allowed my new husband to lead me out of the house and into the waiting hover limo.

My new life had begun and there was nothing I could do to stop it.

“To the spaceport and hurry,” my new husband told the automated limo which sped promptly away with us in its belly. He turned to me. “I wish I could offer you a honeymoon at an exclusive resort but I’m afraid my business doesn’t allow it. We must be on the ship and out of Dianna’s orbit tonight.”

“I understand,” I said softly. Honestly, it didn’t matter to me where we honeymooned. Why should I care where I spent my personal season in Hell? I wondered if he would try to touch me…to kiss me… The very thought made my stomach roll. Not because he was a Skelly head, though—because he wasn’t North. No other kisses could ever be as sweet, no other caresses as tender.

Put him out of your mind,
I advised myself as the limo sped down darkening streets toward the spaceport.
You’ll probably never see him again and you have to live with this…this Aldus person for the rest of your life. So you’d best stop thinking of the past.

Of course the advice was easier to give than to take. Still, I forced myself to look away from the limo’s window and turn to face my new husband instead. To my discomfort, I found that he was studying me intently, the glitter of his hidden eyes behind the mask never wavering.

“Um…” I searched my mind for a topic of conversation. What did one say to one’s new husband who was a complete and total stranger? “What should I call you?” I asked at last when he seemed disinclined to help me out. “Would Aldus be all right or do you prefer Lord Wanerite?”

“Just Wanerite,” he said shortly. “For now that will do.”

“Yes, my Lord.” I looked down at my fingers, wishing he would stop staring at me.

“Does my gaze make you uncomfortable, Kris?” he asked softly.

I looked up quickly. “How did you know that was my nickname?”

He shrugged. “It seemed a logical assumption. But you never answered my question. Does it make you uncomfortable when I look at you?”

“A little,” I confessed. “I…I’m not really much to look at.”

“I disagree—you’re lovely. I especially like your hair this length.” Reaching out, he brushed a stray strand of hair away from my eyes with one gloved hand. “Beautiful,” he murmured, as if to himself.

I could feel my cheeks getting hot. “Th-thank you, my Lord,” I stammered. “You are too kind.”

“Oh? You may not think so by and by,” he remarked ominously.

Before I could get the courage to ask him what he meant by that, the hover-limo came to a halt at the Victoria spaceport.

To my surprise the ship we stopped in front of seemed to be a commercial vehicle rather than a private one. A few crew members dressed in blue jumpsuits were loading packages into the docking bay while others scuttled over the outside of her vast, white flanks, making sure she was ready for take off.

“Here she is. The Lakota.” I heard a note of pride in my new husband’s gravelly voice which somehow made him sound younger. “Not much to start with—just a inter-moon transport. But she’s going to do some interstellar jumps as well. It should be an interesting journey.”

“It will?” I looked at the ship with a slight twinge of hope.

“Oh, yes.” My new husband nodded. “There’s plenty to see out there among the stars. If you’re not afraid to take the journey.”

“I’m not afraid,” I breathed. “I thought…I guess I thought you’d just take me back to Midas and we’d live there.”

He shook his head. “No, we’re going to be living on the ship for a while. Would you like that?”

“Yes, very much,” I said before I thought about it. Maybe I would get my dream of exploring the stars after all. Then, I remembered that I wouldn’t be exploring them with North and my fleeting feeling of euphoria was abruptly crushed.
Oh North, if only you were here. None of this means anything without you!

“Are you all right?” My husband sounded genuinely concerned and I realized I was crying.

“Fine,” I managed to say. “I’m fine.” Quickly, I dashed the tears from my eyes and tried to smile. “Forgive me, my Lord. It’s been a long day.”

“Of course.” Rising, he stepped from the limo and held out his hand to me. “Allow me to show you to your quarters.”

I took his gloved hand and then his arm, which he extended to me as a gentleman should.
At least he has manners,
I told myself. I was certain my father had gone out of his way to pick me the worst husband he could find—why else would he marry me off to a Skelly head? But maybe he had made a mistake in Lord Wanerite. After all, outer appearances could be deceiving as I very well knew.

We walked up the gangplank and into the interior of the ship. Inside it was all long corridors and brushed steel—a thoroughly professional place but with a few personal touches such as the name plaques hung on the cabin doors. We passed the crew’s quarters, a spacious airy bridge, and a communal kitchen before coming to the private sector.