to attend formal functions back in the Federation, he replies. I know enough about how they work.
I’m ready to ask him more, but then we reach the banquet hall, where the Speaker is in the middle of giving a toast. I stop and look away from him, trying to ignore the stares that follow our every step.
I heard Adena dressed you tonight, he says after a beat. She did well.
I search for sarcasm on his face. Are you making fun of me? I ask, irritated. I’m not in the mood tonight.
He frowns at me. I’m complimenting you. Is that not it? You look decent.
Decent. Maybe some things are lost in translation, even through our bond. I glare at him, wishing Adena was here so she could hit him with one of her customized weapons.
We step into the warmth of the banquet hall. Near the front of the chamber, the leader of Mara stands leaning over his table, an arc of his Senators on either side of him. Even Aramin has switched out his Striker uniform tonight for something more luxurious, a vest and coat of white and gold that highlights the subtle gold that lines his eyes. I relax slightly at the sight of Jeran, resplendent in his formal jacket, as he and the Firstblade talk in low voices. Beside him, Adena waves at us. We exchange brief smiles, then without a word turn to face the Speaker.
The Speaker pauses in his toast at our arrival. I’ve seen him before, but always from a distance. This close up, I can see the exhaustion behind his expression, the droop of his skin and the age in his watery eyes. His gaze skims first over me before darting away in disinterest, the edges of his lips thinned into a grimace. His attention settles on Red. “Well,” he says, his voice laced with sarcasm. “Our guest of honor.”
There’s a shuffle as everyone around him shifts, jockeying with one another to be in the best position to observe the man that their Speaker has focused his attention on. Red stands stiffly beside me, but on the surface, he seems to accept the attention without complaint.
Jeran leans closer to me. “I’ve warned the Firstblade against provoking Red to the point of triggering his most powerful state,” he signs, “but the Speaker will want to see a little of what you both can do.”
I nod slightly in return, unsurprised, but the thought still makes my heart leap. We all know so little of Red’s capabilities. What if this goes wrong? It doesn’t take a link between us for me to sense Red’s stiffness.
The Speaker waves a hand at the room. “A word with my Senators, please,” he says with a curt nod.
The elites need no second bidding. They file out of the chamber in a hush of footsteps, but not before I hear them murmuring as they pass us by. Most of them step around Red as if he might lunge at them, while I merely get some hostile stares. I ignore the looks. Before long, the room has emptied, leaving us with only the Senators, the Firstblade, and the Speaker. Guards at the entrances close the glass doors leading out into the courtyard. The noise from the festivities suddenly muffles.
I say nothing as we turn to face the Speaker. The silence stretches on for a moment as he studies us with suspicious eyes.
Finally, he looks at Red. “The Firstblade tells me that you almost singlehandedly destroyed two of the Federation’s patrols at the warfront,” he says. “Along with some of the largest Ghosts we’ve ever fought.”
Red waits for Jeran to translate, then nods once. “Yes, sir,” Jeran says for him.
“Is that true?”
“Yes, sir.”
He glances briefly at me, like he might say something about the rumors that float around me too. How I’d been the only one capable of approaching Red in the middle of his rage.
But when he addresses me, he merely says, “And you’re the Basean.”
I bow my head once.
“Who doesn’t speak.”
Appropriately, there’s nothing for me to say to that, so I remain still.
A note of scorn enters the Speaker’s voice. “A Basean Striker who doesn’t speak, yet has the gall to call a meeting with her Speaker to propose an idea.” He tilts his head at me. “Tell me why you decided to save this prisoner.”
He isn’t asking because he’s curious. He thinks me a liar, that maybe I knew about Red’s abilities when I asked to spare his life. Even now, he’s