But for now she would show a happy face, even though inside her heart was breaking.
40
“If you don’t mind me saying, doll—I mean, Minister Oxley—you don’t look like somebody who just saved the Earth by finding a rare mineral the Monstrum need to defend it. You look like somebody who just lost their last friend.”
Em looked up to see a friendly face peering at her from the doorway of Commander Sylvan’s office. The woman who was looking at her was full-figured, with lush, auburn hair and blue eyes. She was studying Em with concern on her pretty face.
“Oh, hello.” Em tried to smile and couldn’t quite manage it. In the past it had sometimes irritated her how freely and openly Americans spoke of their emotions—and everybody else’s for that matter. But she had no room for irritation just now—she was too filled with misery.
Rarev had brought her to the Kindred Mother Ship and then left with barely a goodbye after he had informed Commander Sylvan about the Yillium contract the two of them had secured. She and the Head of the Kindred High Council were supposed to be planning a press conference to inform the Earth, but he had stepped away from his desk for a moment to go get something.
It was a moment Em had used to let her face do what it wanted—which was stop looking calm and competent and sag into the lines of grief that was filling her like a lake of tears about to overflow. And now someone had seen past her cheery façade and she couldn’t even muster the strength to care about it, she thought.
“You know, you look different from the way you did the last time I saw a World Council Meeting,” the red-haired woman continued, walking into the room. “I’m Kat, by the way. Sylvan asked me to come in and help you with your wardrobe and makeup—I hear you’re going to call a press conference soon?”
“As soon as I get back to Earth,” Em said, nodding. “We’re going to inform the people of the world that the Monstrum can continue to protect them, thanks to the deal we’ve made with the Rigellens to allow us to mine Yillium from their planet.”
“Oh, and so you’re going to frame it as a Christmas miracle? Or the best Christmas present anyone could hope for—or something like that?” Kat asked, raising her eyebrows.
“Er…I hadn’t really thought of it that way,” Em admitted. To be honest, she’d nearly forgotten it was Christmastime at all. So much had happened that the Yuletide season had been completely driven out of her head. Though, looking around Commander Sylvan’s office, which someone had decorated in red and green, she supposed she ought to have remembered it.
“Come on—it’s Christmas Eve!” Kat said, sitting in the chair beside her, across from Sylvan’s desk. “You have to work it in there somehow—everyone feels happier and more forgiving at Christmastime!”
“Well, they’re going to think they’ve got a lot to forgive, I’m afraid,” Em said dryly. “Commander Sylvan informs me that the tabloids back home are framing my ‘escape with the Monstrum commander’ as an attempt to get away from Earth when it was in dire peril from the Darklings.”
“What? But that’s ridiculous!” Kat said indignantly. “You weren’t running away—well, I mean you were in a way, but only from the angry mob outside your house!”
“Oh, do you know about that, too?” Em asked, frowning. It seemed centuries since Rarev had appeared in her house and whisked her away from the mob in his golden ship, though it had only been a few days ago.
“Everybody does—it made the front page of all the news sites,” Kat told her. “But not everyone is framing it as an escape—some sites are calling it a ‘romantic rescue’—people love that kind of thing.”
“I was afraid of that,” Em said darkly. “I knew they’d try to say that Rarev and I are together.”
“Well…are you?” Kat asked frankly. “I have to say, in all the pictures I’ve seen online, the two of you look really good together.” She frowned. “Although, you look different now—a lot younger. And your hair…”
“Yes, we’re together,” Em said bluntly—she was too tired to dissemble. “But not…not for very much longer,” she added and hated the way her voice came out trembling and weak.
“What? What do you mean, doll?” Kat frowned. “When you’re bonded to a Kindred warrior, there’s no going back. They don’t do divorce, you know.”
“Well I think there may be an exception in this case,” Em said.
And somehow, she found herself spilling out the whole story. She wasn’t normally one to talk about her problems or emotions, but Kat had a friendly face and she clearly was attached to the Mother Ship. Also, she was trusted by Sylvan, so Em didn’t have to fear that she would run to the Press or the tabloids. Soon out it all came, including the fact that she was bonded to the Monstrum Commander, but that their bond was soon to be severed.