“You are going to be at events this evening?”
She nodded. “I am if I get changed in time.”
“I would enjoy a conversation with you.”
She twisted her lips and swung the ship around as she settled into her landing site. “I am sure you would. I am fascinating, but protocol is what it is. I am quite sure you will be busy, Your Imperial Highness.”
He paused. “You know who I am?”
“I know who your parents are. I can only guess at which child you are in the birth order.”
“You speak High Hredu.”
“I speak a number of languages. They come in handy at court.” She smiled at him and tried to stand, but he was far too close.
Thakos stepped toward him. “Step back from the lady.”
Padana put her hand on the prince’s chest, and she shoved him back. “I am fine, Thakos. We will go. It is going to take forever to get ready. Sir, if you wish to speak with me, you will have to do it in a public venue.”
He looked at her hand against his shirt in surprise. His grin was genuine. “The court on Hredu is slightly more formal.”
She patted him and eased past him. “We are not yet at court.”
Thet and Thakos escorted her past the honour guard that was there for the guests, and she jogged through the palace to her quarters.
Thet muttered to her while the dressers swarmed her. “I can’t believe you were flirting with him.”
“Flirting? I don’t flirt. He’s a good-looking male.”
“Your father is going to be furious. He has kept you under wraps for decades.”
She chuckled. “I am the only one of his kids that has emerged as a class zero. I have a line of imperial houses longer than my arm who are waiting for me to choose, but none of them will let me see the cages that they want to keep me in. That is important.”
The gauzy layers of her court gown were being wrapped around her, and when she had the four layers that made her clothing decently opaque, the corset went on, and the outer embroidered robe went over it. Her hair was piled up in a tower, gemstones were embedded in the tower of locks. She was draped in the jewels given to her on her first birthday and was several pounds heavier when the honour guard showed up to lead her to the court. Thet was behind her, carrying the gift box.
They headed to her mother’s birthday event. Amanda Tyrell was turning sixty, and all of her six children were going to be in attendance.
The doors were opened at her approach, and she swept forward into the court, going into a deep curtsy in front of the thrones of her parents. The imperial consort grinned brightly as Padana straightened.
“Mother, Father, it is good to see that age has not touched either of you.”
“Padana, it seems that you went shopping today.” Her father, Emperor Palden VII, was looking at her with a calculating stare.
“It is difficult to get a good present when the entire court is seeking one, so I had something made for Mother.” She looked to Thet, and Thet stepped forward with the case, holding it out to Padana.
She took the case, verified the contents, and stepped up onto the second step of the dais. “Here you are, Mother. Something to remind you of those things you called Jamaican patties.”
Her mother grinned and applauded. “They smell amazing. Palden, do you mind?”
He waved at her to enjoy her present.
Padana watched her mother take the first bite of the flaky pastry, she watched her face turn bright red, and then, she ate and swallowed. “Oh, sweetie. They are perfect.” Her voice was strangled.
Palden looked over. “Amanda, are you all right?”
She squeezed his hand and croaked out. “So happy.”
Padana curtsied deeply. “Happy birthday, Mother.”
Amy winked through her tears and gestured for Padana to take her position in the third step from the throne. The attendants took most of the small pies away, but the imperial consort took three and kept them next to her throne during the evening.
Padana’s siblings began to arrive, and when all six children were lined up, the main doors opened, and the party could actually begin.
Chapter Two
Padana remained on display with her siblings while the dignitaries filed in. The fact that Yomin was the first of those allowed in showed his rank and the status that he carried.
Her father greeted him warmly. “Your Highness, how serendipitous that you have arrived in time for the party.”
Yomin inclined his head. “It is an honour to have been invited. It was mere luck that an imperial shuttle was at the station to ferry us here after our vessel was stuck in repair after a meteor strike.”
Her father flicked his glance sideways. “An imperial shuttle? How very convenient.”
Padana wished that she could melt away, but she was stuck staring blankly into space.
“Palden, my son. Were you up on the station?”
Her eldest brother chuckled. “No, Your Highness.”
“Rigon, my next, what about you?”
Padana wanted to cover her face as she knew she was next in line for questioning.
“Dearest daughter, you, perchance, were at the station today?”
She stepped forward and curtsied deeply. “I was, Your Highness. That is where the Terran pastry chef was, so that is where I got the consort’s gift.”
“Did you have authorization?”
She kept her face bent downward. “I had authorization from the tower, the station, and customs.”
Her father, in front of the entire court, muttered, “You did not have my permission to leave.”
“Your Highness, I did ask if I could go shopping for something special.”
She flicked her glance at him, and he was staring at her in astonishment.
“You are equating shopping with getting in a shuttle with only your local guard?” He paused, and he looked dark. “You took more than your palace guard with you, right?”
Three hundred people were watching her being chastised. She shrugged. “I took my household attendants.”
“How many out of the dozen?”
She sighed. “Two.”
Her mother put a hand on her father’s arm. “Perhaps this is not the right moment, love?”
The emperor snorted and waved her back to her place in line.
Her siblings were laughing softly, and she sighed. The only other sister, the youngest, whispered, “Nice one.”
They quietly reached over and fist-bumped before there was a growl from the throne as he spoke with the Imperial Prince of Hredu.
She watched the man who looked like his skin was made of metal, and she wanted to run her fingers over the edge of his jaw. She curled her fingers together in the folds of her sleeves, and then, she waited.
Two hours later, the party began with her parents dancing together with slow moves and intense looks. Padana smiled, and after a minute, her partner and her siblings’ age-appropriate partners emerged from the crowd, and they slowly joined in the dance before the song ended and their partners returned to the crowd.