Page 4 of The First Spark
Kalie flinched. If she ever spoke so coarsely, the news would tear her apart. Only Ariah would dare to speak so boldly to the ruler of one of the richest planets in the Federation, and only Ariah would get away with it.
“You’re just like Lex,” Aunt Calida murmured.
A jolt of ice blasted through Kalie, and she shivered, dropping her gaze to her steel-toed boots.
Before Ariah, there had been another Soror Res: Lexani. Aunt Calida’s genetically-modified body double.
She, like Ariah, like all the generations of secret royal doubles who’d held the title Soror Res before her, had sworn to lay down her life for the royal family.
And she had. She’d been blown to ashes by a bomb while Aunt Calida waged war against her own mother, Duchissa Madeleine.
Kalie swallowed the knot in her throat. She wouldn’t let that happen to Ariah. They’d been born together and they’d die together. Crib to crypt.
“My apologies.” Aunt Calida drew in a shaky breath. “With everything going on… My, I’m being quite morbid today, aren’t I?”
Kalie blinked. Dark circles ringed Aunt Calida’s eyes. Surely she hadn’t looked so weary the last time she’d seen her, had she?
“Perfectly understandable,” Ariah said, tapping her finger against the silent holopad. It had stopped chiming; she must’ve silenced the polls. “We’re all a little tense right now.”
“But we’re almost through the worst of it.” As if drawing strength from the words, Aunt Calida straightened, and her smile washed her weariness away. “I heard the two of you put on an impressive show this past week.”
“It was all Ariah.”
“You kidding?” Ariah smacked her with a gold-tasseled pillow. “Sure, I did today’s speech. But that was my best friend who gave the opening speech last week, and you were brilliant.”
Kalie frowned. “I think we all know I should stick to writing speeches, not giving them.”
“You’ll be giving many more of them when you return home,” Aunt Calida said.
The air grew thicker, tenser. They’d reached the freezing temperatures of orbit, but the room was stifling.
Aunt Calida was watching her.
Ducking her head, Kalie glanced at her unfinished painting, a dove caught between a stargate and Dali’s surface.
“Well, she sure knows how to make an impression,” Ariah teased. “The senators at the summit’s opening speech couldn’t keep their eyes off her?—”
“Because of my compelling case for Marcus?—”
“Because of how stunning you looked. Who’s gonna say no to a hot princess?”
Kalie’s cheeks flushed. “Very funny. Have you considered that maybe they were so attentive because they hate Carik?”
“A princess with charm, wit, beauty…”
“Oh, shut up.” Kalie swatted her arm. “I’ll keep sending you in my place.”
Ariah fanned herself. “Yes, good idea. After all, Iamthe prettier one.”
“We have the same face,” Kalie protested, laughing.
Her laughter died as they lapsed into heavy silence.
“I love you both so much,” Aunt Calida said softly. “You know that, right?”
When Kalie dared to look up, her aunt’s eyes were glossy. Her melancholy gaze flitted away, and she cleared her throat, business as usual. “I’ve finished the preparations for your return tour. You’ll start at the summer court in Queensborough and travel the rest of Pharea, then head back to the main continent. The courts have all been briefed on the arrival of my newest emissary.”
Kalie picked at a tasseled pillow. “Yeah. Great.”
