Lady Charlotte’s story begins with The Invitation. Although I will probably do a full rewrite of that story to make it a better introduction, the rest poured out below. Presented without edits and open for feedback.
Charlotte had only been running for ten minutes, but her feet already hurt. Her ribcage ached with unaccustomed exertion, straining against corset restrictions on piddly options such as breathing. She wished Yelena hadn’t laced it so tight.
Were those noises behind her shouts? Had she been noticed as missing already?
She didn’t know exactly what would happen to a girl in her situation, caught by two men alone and out at night unescorted, but she could guess. The best option would probably be loss of social standing as her entire family experienced the collective shaming, followed by a quick marriage to the hatchet-faced man.
There had been a maid exiled from her household’s manor when she was very young. Charlotte remembered only sobs and screams, a pleading but unintelligible voice. The tutor had whisked the girls away, allowing them to indulge in cakes and shushing questions. All she’d learned was not to ask why.
She ignored the burning in her chest and kept going. The stone path was hard on her feet, cold and wet in flimsy slippers, but hours of walking the land was to her benefit now. The light markers illuminated the drive just enough to keep animal predators away, even if it made her easier to find by humans.
A boxed lantern flickered, larger than the rest, and she halted, unable to see beyond the fire’s glow for several moments. The road dipped into rutted dirt below her, and her stomach jolted at the sight. She lifted her skirts and jumped into the road, turning toward the electric glow on her left.
She spared a single moment for a glimpse back toward her old life, a manor hidden behind a winding stone path, lit only by firelight. Charlotte Merikh straightened her shoulders and kept walking. She couldn’t stop the smile from spreading over her face as she headed toward the Spaceport.
***
Charlotte stared at her feet under the light of the pink moon, wondering how there could be so much pain but not so swollen they overflowed her shoes. Ridiculous, velvet shoes with soles so thin they were nearly nonexistent, and she couldn’t make herself run in them anymore.
She’d had no idea how far electric light could travel. The spaceport had seemed so close.
She turned, and the horse was nearly upon her. Screaming, she tried to get out of the way and tripped backward. Only now, as the hooves came within an inch of her head, did she hear the cart’s bells.
“Whoa!” The man’s voice came from behind the hanging lantern. Charlotte struggled to get up, ready to run again on aching feet. She stared at the too-close hooves. This was a plow horse, broken to wagon, not a prancing carriage horse useless for anything but fancy dress balls.
“You’re not looking for me,” she blurted out, then clapped a hand over her mouth.
The man laughed. “No, but I wish I’d seen you sooner. Wasn’t expecting anyone to be standing in the middle of the road. Clyde there, he doesn’t like nights much. Doesn’t see so well. Took him a second to react. Did you not hear the bells?”
“I do apologize. I didn’t mean to startle your horse. But could I get a ride, sir?” she asked politely. Charlotte bit her lip, wondering if she’d just made a huge mistake.
She could hear the sudden intake of breath from six feet away, even if she couldn’t see past the lantern properly.
A long pause came before the man cleared his throat. “You know what you are asking, taking a ride with a male stranger at night as an unmarried girl. Are you claiming Spaceport sanctuary?”
The words dropped slowly into the night. Charlotte considered them, tilting her head.
“I don’t know what that means exactly, sir, but I was headed to the Spaceport hoping for sanctuary. I cannot go back. I will accept your offer.”
The man let out a shuddering breath. “Offer made and extended, now accepted. Climb aboard. I hear bells in the distance behind us, so we’d best get a move on.”
She scrambled up to the box seat, leaving a careful distance between them.
“My name is Joel. I’m taking some trade goods to the Spaceport. My sister awaits.”
She turned her head to study his profile, now backlit from this angle by the lantern. “Your sister lives there?”
He laughed softly and clucked to his horse. “She’s a spaceship pilot. I bring her fancywork that she can sell on other worlds that machine produce everything.”
Charlotte didn’t understand what he meant, but found his voice soothing. The weight of the evening settled over her, and she found herself yawning.
“Miss?” Joel reached across the box seat and shook her arm briefly before pulling back. “I’m sorry, but you didn’t give me your name.”
“Oh, I’m sorry,” she said with a yawn. “I am called Charlotte. I must have nodded off.”
“We’re getting close.” His voice was tense. “Can you reach the cart behind you? Look for a white square.”
She twisted and squinted into the darkness. “I think so. Yes. I can’t see anything, though.”
“Can you feel fabric? If so, grab the top layer.”
Charlotte felt soft fabric, the bumps of embroidery familiar under her fingertips. She pulled it into her lap.
“Miss Charlotte, you’re going to want to hide that hair.” His voice was tense and grim, no longer soothing.
She straightened and frowned, then unfolded the finely woven fabric with a frown and draped it over her hair. She tucked the trailing ends around her neck. “I only ever even heard of red hair being an issue this afternoon.”
Joel called to the horse again, urging him faster. “Sit tight, Miss Charlotte. We’ll be there in a few minutes. Try not to stare.”
She pulled the makeshift hood down to shadow her eyes, unsure she could hide her expression. Surely the place that managed to create electric light would be full of other wonders. How could she not stare?
As Joel’s cart cleared the forest road, she bit her lip and drew her eyebrows together, confused. The Spaceport had electric lights, certainly. A double fence allowed for uniformed men to check the entrants into the port without allowing them fully inside. The inner fence was solid, though the cream paint was dirty at the bottom from scuffed dirt.
On the solid inner wall, colorful shapes overlapped in several organized rectangles. Charlotte supposed these must be tapestries, though she didn’t know why the outdoors would need wall hangings to stay warm. The aroma of fried dough mixed with an oily, burnt smell she didn’t recognize.
The outer fence was made of sturdy wire woven into a diamond pattern, and had a collection of people such as she’d never seen. A small horde of ragged children, eagerly running toward the horse and cart, offering to hold the horse for a coin. Joel shooed them away with a few curt words, not pausing even as they ran so closely Charlotte feared they’d be run over by the cart’s metal wheels.
Emaciated men sat by the port entrance and held out bowls with skeletal hands, their shoulders slumped in defeat and necks bowed. Charlotte didn’t understand why they didn’t ask for succor at any of the nearby manors, when work was plentiful year-round. Anyone was entitled to ask for a few day’s wages under guesting rights without deciding to stay.
The women were what drew her eyes the most, staring with an open mouth and wide eyes, drawing the scarf tighter around her head and neck with suddenly frantic hands. Women with skirts so short they showed the entire bottom portion of their legs, women without bodices. Women who clung to the wire fence, which must be far stronger than it looked to support their weight. They spoke directly to men, beckoning with inviting hands and flipping loose hair over their shoulders.
“These are the ones Society rejects, Lady Charlotte,” Joel said quietly, as the horse drew the cart closer to the entrance. “The ones who tried to leave and couldn’t.”
She looked at him, glad for a distraction. “Did the Spaceport not let them in?” She swung a foot out, tapped a still-damp slipper against the footboard, and glanced over her shoulder. A lantern shone in the darkness, a glowing dot at least half a mile away. Perhaps she should take her chances with the carriage rapidly approaching.
“The Spaceport is the only way out,” Joel said. “It’s hard to leave what you’ve always known. I’m one of the few to live a little in both worlds, and don’t think I could fully choose either. They turned back because they thought this life was better than the unknown.”
She studied the huddled figures surrounding the fence. The children had mobbed around a ball, while the men were oblivious. The women avoided looking at the cart, focusing all their efforts on the uniformed spaceport men. Charlotte wondered whether they were ashamed to look at a local man, or if Joel wasn’t wealthy enough to attract their interest.
“That won’t be my fate,” Charlotte said. Her voice was determined.
“Good,” Joel said. He slowed Clyde and the cart rolled to a stop inside the gate. “Keep that in mind. You’re going to have a long evening.”
***
“Charlotte Penelope Merikh,” she repeated for what must have been the tenth time. “Daughter of Lucinda and Fedor Merikh.”
She stifled a yawn, and realized she was still wearing her gloves. They felt glued to her hands, and she bit down on the fingertips one by one to start pulling them off.
“Of Merikh Manor, Stirling Province, Kairos Domain?” The blonde man had a pencil-thin mustache that drooped over his mouth when he talked.
“Yes,” she mumbled around a mouthful of fabric. “As I told you repeatedly over what must be more than a candlemark. I claim sanctuary.”
Joel had told her to say those words just before they’d pulled up to the gate and stopped inside for Joel’s cart to be inspected. As soon as he’d told the officer the Lady Charlotte was claiming sanctuary, a swarm of uniformed men had surrounded the wagon and pulled her into a room for questioning. She’d heard shouts behind her as she’d been escorted away.
She thought she’d spotted a woman, even, but hadn’t been sure in all the chaos. Sanctuary wasn’t free, after all, and she would need to find employment that didn’t include being one of the gateside women. Perhaps she could learn to inspect carts.
Behind her, the door opened, and she started at the noise. She jumped again as a woman’s voice spoke firmly from behind her chair. “Peter, lay off. You’re scaring the girl. She’s confirmed her identity.”
“We haven’t done DNA yet.” The man looked up and pushed back his chair, but did not rise.
“She’s clearly a native of this planet. Spaceport has always offered sanctuary to those who choose a different way of life.” Charlotte felt the woman place her hands on the back of her chair. “Let me talk to her and make sure she understands before we proceed, will you?”
Peter leaned back in his chair for a moment, his mustache drooping further. He dropped back to all four legs with a bang and a snort.
Charlotte narrowed her eyes but refused to show anything else on her face. Her society training had been good for a bland expression of politeness. He’d been trying to scare her, she realized now, but she didn’t know why. Did he think she would be like one of the gate women, and give him favors?
He loomed, leaning forward, and Charlotte doubled down on not letting this man see how much he frightened her. The woman cleared her throat. He glared above Charlotte’s head, shoved his way around the table, and banged out the door.
“Well,” the woman said. “At least the petty bureaucrat is out of the way. Don’t worry, his shift change is coming and I’ll make sure someone else handles your paperwork.”
She shook her head, looking down at curls come undone. All Yelena’s work, gone. Charlotte realized she’d likely never see her again, and bit her lip. She was tired, and her brain wanted to wander off on tangents. Then sleep, sleep for days.
“Why did he want to scare me?” She blinked. Charlotte hadn’t intended to say those words.
The woman sighed, walked around the table, and flipped the chair around so the back was facing toward Charlotte. She sat, one leg to each side, and nodded at Charlotte’s wide eyes.
“Yes, that was deliberate. You’ve got a long way to go if you want this to work. I don’t have tea for you, but I can answer questions.” She was perhaps ten years older than Charlotte, dressed in dark pants with pockets, with short, dark red curls that ended at her jawline.
Charlotte nodded, and straightened. “Who are you? Why are you here? What exactly does claiming sanctuary mean?”
“Oh, little dove, you claimed sanctuary without even knowing what it meant? No wonder my brother sent me here.”
Charlotte’s head snapped up at the familiar endearment. “You’re from here? Wait – you’re Joel’s sister?”
The woman smiled, her lips quirking up only on one side. “What did he tell you?”
She frowned. “That you were a spaceship pilot. He was bringing you fancywork, scarves and the like. I didn’t understand everything he said.”
The redheaded woman studied her. “I am Kallina. And yes, Joel is my brother. Yes, I am from this planet. A spaceship is the vehicle – carriage – that travels between planets.”
“I know what a spaceship is,” Charlotte hurried to interject. “It’s what brought us here to colonize.”
“It’s very loud, very crowded, and boring and exhilarating at the same time.” Kallina’s eyes looked through Charlotte for a few moments, and a real smile showed in the crinkles around her hazel eyes.
She came back to the room and looked directly into Charlotte’s green eyes. “A pilot is the person who, um, drives the spaceship carriage. I make sure nothing goes wrong. I follow the path. I transport goods, and sometimes people.”
“Are there roads in space?” Charlotte asked, curious.
Kallina laughed. “Not as such.” She leaned her head on a hand, tilting it. “I think I see why you wanted out of this place.”
“I did ask why you were helping me.” Charlotte wasn’t sure what was happening, but she felt her stomach clench in anticipation. It might have been hope fluttering as well.
Kallina closed her eyes. “Because once, I was very like you. Eager to learn, full of questions no one would answer. Never understanding why everything I did or said was inappropriate. Always getting into trouble, always watched because my hair happened to be the wrong shade. Always longing for something more.”
She opened her eyes and looked directly at Charlotte again. “Does that sound familiar?”
Charlotte released a breath she hadn’t known she’d been holding, and tossed her gloves on the table. “You left.”
“Aye,” Kallina said. “I left. It was hard. Sometimes dangerous. Nearly always confusing. It’s like learning another language, but without anyone teaching you the basics. You can’t trust what you see, or what you do, because no matter what it is, it means different things to different people.”
Charlotte looked away. “Why are you telling me this?”
The older woman leaned forward. “Every original colony planet automatically belongs to the Consortium. That’s the group of countries that funded the first colonization. It’s basically an interplanetary citizenship.”
She chewed on her lip. It was starting to hurt, but it kept her awake and thinking. “So I’m a citizen.”
“Only if you want it.” Kallina slumped over her chair back and put her chin on her hands. “You decide you don’t, you lose access to the port without an escort.”
“My family won’t take me back.” The words were soft but firm in the small room.
The older woman shut her eyes again. “No, they won’t. And then life gets much harder. Maybe you probably become one of the gateside women, which you’re smart enough to have already figured out you don’t want. And you’re classy enough and determined enough to know you don’t want that to happen to you.”
“What does citizenship mean?” Charlotte crossed her arms, pulling Joel’s scarf tighter around her shoulders. “I don’t really have any skills to earn a living.”
“It means a passport off this planet, access to education, and the freedom to choose your own path.” Kallina stretched, a languid action juxtaposed against her earlier efficient movements. “Both my crew decided to settle down recently. With each other, blast it, so I lost them both at once.”
“You’re saying you have room for me?” Her breath caught at the idea of leaving Society, but her body deflated as hope faded. “As I said earlier, I don’t have any skills that would be useful on a spaceship.”
“I have room for you, and I’ll train you on what you need to know. Room, board, and wages. I’ll help you sell your outfit so you have some – ah – pin money. If you can do needlework and still want to, I’ll sell your fancywork and you can have most of the profits.” Kallina’s eyes pinned Charlotte’s. “Does that sound fair?”
“More than fair,” she said. “Only, I’m not sure I’m ready for this.”
Kallina smiled, her eyes tinged with sadness. “If you keep waiting to be ready, you never will be.”
***
The older woman turned back into her efficient self as soon as she opened the door and began yelling for the bureaucrat to return. The odious idiot had vanished, and Charlotte watched an affable man jogging lightly down the hall, laughing when he saw Kallina.
“Should have known it was you making such a fuss.” Charlotte was relieved to see his light brown mustache was less foppish. Already this man seemed more reasonable.
He settled into the chair with only a raised eyebrow at Kallina’s possessive stance behind Charlotte’s chair.
“She’s exhausted, Allen. And I know you remember how confused and sheltered I was when I got here.”
He gestured at the paperwork the other man had left on the desk. “I’m not questioning your right to be here. I’m wondering why Peter didn’t even mark identity confirmation. He’s got nerve, that one.”
The next two hours were a blur. Charlotte found herself dragging a pen through innumerous forms and answering questions at Allen’s direction. He seemed unreasonably happy about filling out papers, which her family’s steward had always detested. Allen held up a box and a flash blinded her briefly. While still blinking the dots away, she found herself presented with a plastic chit.
“It’s still warm,” she murmured. The chit was octagonal, pale blue with black letters. A gold square had squiggles and a button on it.
Kallina laughed. “Slide that cover back over the gold section and press the button underneath. The flash you saw painted your portrait in an instant.”
A holographic picture of Charlotte blinked into evidence above the plastic. “Oh! Is that me?” Her eyes widened in wonder for a few seconds. Then she looked closer, and scowled at the image. “I look terrible.”
Allen and Kallina both burst out laughing.
“Welcome to the world of bureaucracy,” Allen said. “No one ever likes their image.”
Charlotte only yawned, and Kallina gave a contrite twist of her face.
“Do you need anything else, Allen? I want her in a bunk yesterday.”
“Just the oath to activate her status.” The room grew silent.
Allen cleared his throat. “Are you awake enough to pay attention?”
She nodded, trying to straighten into posture her mother would be proud to see.
“The oath doesn’t automatically make you give up your family, or even your planet. You could live here at the spaceport as a merchant if you wanted. This oath basically says you’ll follow the law and be a good citizen. You’ll be quizzed on how to be a good citizen when you reach the age of majority.”
Green eyes met hazel as Charlotte sought Kallina, immobile in her corner within the sterile room. “But I’m sixteen now.”
“Consortium says it’s eighteen. Fourteen to go off planet with a sponsor vouching for you until you reach your majority. I’m the sponsor.” She brought her leg up and propped a boot against the wall.
“It’s a big deal. Kallina takes all responsibility for your actions as your sponsor.” Allen’s eyes were concerned.
“That doesn’t seem fair,” Charlotte said. “I’m sure I’ll make mistakes.”
Allen lifted a uniformed shoulder. “Fewer if you know someone else will pay the price along with you, we’ve found.”
Kallina cleared her throat from the corner. “I wouldn’t offer if I thought you were an intentional troublemaker.”
Charlotte drew her brows together in a frown. “What else am I committing myself to with this oath?”
“You only need to swear the oath to get access to space, because the Consortium provides the access. You might like another planet on Kallina’s route better and decide to settle there. If you stay landside, you probably won’t need to ever swear another oath.”
“That seems acceptable.”
Allen nodded, his chin propped over folded hands. “It’ll be all right. We do this all the time, Charlotte.”
She blinked. It was the first time any outsider had ever referred to her without her title. “I’m no longer Lady Charlotte.”
Allen drummed his fingers on the table. “I hadn’t thought to cover that part. No, there’s no official nobility in the Consortium.”
Kallina crossed her arms and leaned against the wall. “There’s rank and status, but it’s mostly earned in space. Every planet is different. Tends to be structured similarly to where the home core population came from.”
“I’m just not used to it,” Charlotte said. “That’s all. I still want to do this.”
“Good,” Kallina said, and dropped her boot down to plant both feet on the scuffed tile floor. “I got the impression you hated being Lady Charlotte anyway.”
Exhaustion swept over her, and sputtered out as laughter that didn’t stop until she hiccupped. “I need a new name.”
“Let’s try out some nicknames before you make it official,” Kallina said dryly. “And get this oath over with, eh?”
Allen held up a restraining hand. “Charlotte, in two years, if you pass your test, you gain full citizenship and rights like voting. But it also binds you to something greater. If the Consortium of Planets ever comes into conflict with Society, you’re saying that you will side with the Consortium. Do you understand?” His voice lacked its previous joviality.
“Is that likely?”
“No,” Kallina said. “Society as a planet wants nothing to do with technology, and it’s unwelcoming to outsiders. It’s not profitable for most trade. They only let the spaceport stay open because it’s required by interplanetary law. And also they don’t have the technology to force them out.”
Allen pointed a finger. “Shush, you. They trade more than the elders here are willing to admit to their populations. But no, Charlotte, Kallina is right. It’s not likely.”
“So one oath now gets me off Society and into space.”
“Under guardianship, yes.” Allen shifted his weight. “If you were of majority age, you’d study here on the planet until you passed a probationary test or decided to stay. They’re supposed to have sponsors too, usually the ship’s captain.”
“I get a trial run. Then in two years, I pass a test and take another oath, or settle onto another planet.” Charlotte pushed long auburn locks behind her shoulders.
“In two years,” Kallina started. She stared at the ground for a long moment, kicking the toe of one boot against the floor.
She looked back up, and the older woman’s twisted half smile did not reach bleak eyes. “In two years, you will not be the same person. This is a whole new life, a new identity. This gives you time to be sure.”
“Some people never make the final leap,” Allen said into the awkward, empty silence that followed.
Charlotte studied Kallina’s tense posture, propped against the wall with her head bowed. Each muscle was frozen so tightly the older woman did not even appear to breathe.
“I think,” Charlotte said slowly, as Kallina’s head rose with each word. “I will welcome a new identity.”
***
Charlotte opened her eyes the next morning, and immediately winced away from the unfamiliar electric light as it sensed her movement and blinked on. It was impossible to tell whether she had slept through the daylight that had just begun when Kallina had introduced her to the Wyvern.
If last night had been a dream, it would be both nightmare and wondertale. She recognized few scents or noises, and if she’d not been so exhausted, doubted she’d have slept.
Didn’t the elders warn against making decisions directly after emotional shock? Hadn’t she had a series of surprises yesterday? Finding out her hair made others perceive her as wanton, turning sixteen and becoming eligible for marriage, the attack by the deranged man in the library, running away.
Becoming a probationary citizen in the Consortium, a concept she barely understood. Charlotte still wasn’t sure whether it was a good idea, but the idea of a trial period had reassured her that she could change her mind.
She may not have liked life on Society, or the family’s expectations of her, but she was also familiar with it. She knew what those expectations were, knew who was trustworthy. Was Kallina as much a planetary kinswoman as she claimed? But her brother had given her succor, and the officials here treated the woman well.
She shoved back the tangled sheets that had wrapped around her legs. Enough lazing about. It was time to figure out how to cleanse oneself on a spaceship. Would it be different on the ground than in the air?
The metal floor was chill against her bare feet. She moved to the door she thought was the compact relief area she’d been shown how to use last night and found a closet. Opening the door next to it, she discovered what she’d expected. Charlotte also sniffed a tube of what smelled like cleansing paste for teeth, but was unsure on how to use any of the other facilities. She would have to ask the Kallina.
Her borrowed sleeping shift stopped at midthigh, shorter than anything else she had ever worn before. Her dress from last night was missing, along with her much-abused slippers. Bare legs made her movements awkward, peeking around the door to see if Kallina was in sight before scurrying into the common area. If only she could stay behind convenient furniture, but there was little in this area.
She cleared her throat as she approached the hooded head facing away from her at the kitchen’s eating section. The hooded figure froze at the noise, then set down a steaming cup on the table.
“Kallina, I would like to thank you again for taking me in. I’m afraid I don’t know how to use –“
She let out an undignified squeak as the person turned around and stood. “Butler?”
The bearded man raised a hand in salute, taking her disheveled, sleep-tousled state in with a sweeping glance of deep-set eyes. He lifted his gaze to meet hers with a raised eyebrow. “Lady Death.”
Charlotte was suddenly absurdly conscious of her bare knees, but stood firm, her jaw quavering with attempted resolve. She had taken on a new life, and would not bow to expectations from the last. She straightened her shoulders and crossed her arms, sure the heat across her face had manifested crimson.
“What are you doing here? How did you get in?”
The Hannock’s Butler leaned back against the kitchen table and tossed his hood back. “I only remain the family’s butler if I bring you back, I’m afraid. Sneaking in was difficult, but not impossible.”
“What have you done with Kallina?” She could not abide it if her new friend and protector had been hurt.
He looked shocked. “I am here because I am still protecting you, and you think I would harm another woman? From what I observed, she came to your aid. I waited to enter the ship until she left. I’m sure she will think you changed your mind and went home, where you belong.”
“Bringing me back will not protect me, Butler.” She was certain of that, as certain as she was that Butler must have made it over the double fence while she was still in the stuffy office section.
“Honor demands I bring you back, Lady Death.” He swept a hand over dark, wavy hair longer on top than on bottom, and his jaw squared under the short beard.
“That is not my name,” Charlotte bit out, her fists clenched.
“Oh, but it is.” He pushed off the table and took a step toward her. “When I said you’d be the death of some poor man, I did not mean it literally. Nor did I mean myself. Yet here we are.”
She rolled her eyes, pretending to arrogance she did not have, and stood her ground as he moved forward. “I don’t understand.”
“A Butler loses his position either through honorable retirement at a distinguished age, when he is formally challenged by a trainee, or when he fails in his duties. Only the first is generally survivable.” His mouth thinned against a tanned face.
Charlotte lost her internal battle and took a step back at the anger in his dark eyes. “I didn’t know.”
He stopped and threw up his hands. “I don’t know how you didn’t know. Your manor didn’t train you properly. Put on some proper clothes. We’re leaving. I will take you home and away from – from whatever you think you are doing.”
She put her hands on her hips without thinking, then wrapped her arms around herself again. “No. This is about your honor, not mine.”
“It will be much easier to simply walk out if you are properly garbed and cooperative, Lady Death, but do not think I will hesitate to take you with me in a sack if I must.” His voice was a growl, and a vein at his temple twitched.
She took another step back. Butler wasn’t the helpful protector from last night right now. It wasn’t quite as terrifying as one of Father’s towering rages, but this was not a man she particularly wanted to cross.
“I am not going anywhere.” Charlotte mumbled the words, dragging them out of her mouth one at a time. Fear always made it hard for her to speak.
“He is, though,” Kallina said, from off to the side. She held an odd, bulbous object in her hand, made of dark and shining metal. It was pointed at Butler. “Little dove, did this man hurt you?”
“I’m fine,” Charlotte said, wondering if the strange object in the other woman’s hands was a weapon. She couldn’t see visible bolts or quarrels.
Butler laughed, incredulous, and slapped his chest. “Lady Death here can handle herself. As can you, it seems.” He nodded at Kallina and her object. “I would not harm her, only restore her to her rightful family.”
“I believe that’s different after Charlotte accepted spaceport sanctuary.” Kallina bit out the words.
Butler raised an eyebrow. “That changes things. If you would be so kind, I shall be leaving now. It appears I need to seek new orders.”
“Don’t come back,” Kallina said. She backed up a pace and circled around him, away from the entrance ramp, so she was between Charlotte and the butler. “As you said. Leave. Now.”
The man held up his hands in surrender, but continued to grin. White teeth shone against his dark skin and beard as he backed down the entrance ramp with both women following several feet behind. Butler pulled his hood up and stepped onto the ground. “I do love a good challenge.”
Kallina took one hand off the weapon and hit a white button. The ramp began to close with a hissing sound. A blue button made a zinging, electric sound. “Locked and secured. The green button is to open the ramp. Don’t press the red button unless it’s an emergency.”
“Do we call the constables?” Charlotte asked. “I thought he was you at first. I don’t know how he got in. I’m glad you’re here.”
“You’re babbling. I called the guards when I saw the ramp open. I would never leave the Wyvern unsecured, especially not with you sleeping. Didn’t seem likely you’d gone for a walk.”
Charlotte gave a tentative smile. “I don’t know where my clothes are.”
Kallina pushed a button on the shiny object and put it in one of her many pockets. She picked up a cloth bag from the ground and headed for the kitchen. “I got some supplies for the week, but we’ll need more.”
Scowling, Kallina dumped the butler’s drink into a basin. “Helped himself, he did. Right. I can put all this away in a few minutes. Let’s go get you some clothes before the guards show. They won’t be fast enough to catch him, but guards always show up at the worst time possible.”
Charlotte followed her out of the room and down the hallway toward the living quarters.
Kallina banged open a cupboard and dug around. “These will do for now. Your dress is in the cleaner. We can talk about what to do with it later.”
“Trousers?” Charlotte asked. “Oh. I suppose…I’ve never…”
The older woman gave her usual half-grin. “You’re about to be awash in ‘I’ve never done that befores,’ little dove. Or should I say, Lady Death? You’ll have to tell me about that sometime.”
Charlotte wondered if her legs would still feel naked with limbs visible, even though the pants were so large she would need a belt to keep them up.
“Pull the tabs on the sides to tighten them up. There’s a shirt there, too.” Kallina gave her a gentle push. “Get going. We don’t have much time. And maybe don’t mention the blaster when we tell the guards why he left, all right?”
“Blasher,” Charlotte said under her breath after the door was shut. “Blaster? Blazer?” She shrugged off the sleeping shift and folded it, delaying the moment when she would first put on the unfamiliar clothes.
She’d never thought to wear anything but skirts, even when they annoyed her. She gulped. If her mind was so closed to this, she wasn’t going to handle space very well, now was she? This life she had chosen would be filled with far more terrifying decisions than what she wore.
The tabs weren’t enough to make the pants fit well, but at least she didn’t need a belt. She did have to roll up the long legs, though. The shirt was a tight bodice style that provided support, but was far snugger than she had expected. She looked down. Perhaps she could wear the sleep shift over it. A full two inches of her skin showed a pale streak marred by her bellybutton.
A knock on the door came before she did more than reach for the oversized shift. “Charlotte? The guard would like to talk to you about what happened now.”
Her steps out on bare feet were tentative, her arms crossed across her stomach so the guard could not see. Gratitude washed over her that the pants were not as close-fitting as Kallina’s.
“Oh,” Charlotte said. “You’re a woman.” She didn’t drop her arms, wondering if the shaming would be worse from a woman.
“That I am,” the tiny blonde agreed. “Not the best posting in the galaxy for a woman, but then they also don’t bother giving me gate duty because no one from here would listen. So I’ve an easier job than most. If you count talking to prostitutes every day easier.”
“This is Corporal Bleuvins, Charlotte,” Kallina said. “Treat her just as you would a manor’s Butler or province constable. She’s earned her position just as they have.” She walked over to a cupboard.
“And harder for that,” the petite woman said. “None of those ogres knew how to handle an opponent so much smaller in fighting classes, but that just meant they tried to sit on me instead.”
“I didn’t know women could do this,” Charlotte said, her eyes wide at the idea of fighting alongside men . She jumped as Kallina draped a jacket over her shoulders.
“It’s not an easy life, but if you’re interested, I can talk to you about it,” Corporal Bleuvins said.
“Would you really?” Charlotte said. “I think I’d like to know more. I like the idea of being able to take care of myself.”
“Sure,” the woman said briskly. “But first, let’s get on with what happened here. Attempted kidnapping is no joke.”
***
Joel stood at the bottom of the ramp and grinned at his sister. “Surprise. Got an escort over from your friend.”
The nicer of the bureaucrats from last night, Allen, waved from the firepit area. “Wanted to see how our Charlotte was doing. Heard there was a fuss. Local bloke tried to kidnap her?”
“And we’ve spent the past hour trying to convince her that’s in fact wrong to force people to go somewhere against their will,” Kallina said in an exasperated tone. She crossed the rest of the way down and gave her brother a quick hug. “This is Corporal Bleuvins, who’s probably given up hope.”
The short blonde shrugged and stuck her thumbs in her utility belt. “I might try again tomorrow. We’ll step up patrols in the area, make sure he doesn’t try again.”
Charlotte came down, but stayed on the ramp. “I understand it’s wrong by the laws I now adhere to, but he’s not sworn himself to the same code. It’s a death sentence for him if he doesn’t come back with me.”
“And one for you if he gets you,” Joel said. “I was worried about it getting that far.” He turned to his cart and hefted a pale wooden box to his shoulder.
Kallina came and picked one up as well. “We’ll go to the base bazaar and get lunch after this. Allen, will you join us?”
“Can’t, I’m afraid, duty calls and all that. But perhaps a few moments with Miss Charlotte?”
She blinked at the unfamiliar honorific, but came and sat next to him anyway. Her jacket was far too warm for this sort of sunny day, but she did not remove it. “What is that title you called me?”
“Ah, just means – heh. It means lady, but a young one. Guess you got your title back after all.”
She looked away and propped a slim foot on the metal fire ring. “No, I think not.”
“Are you doing all right?”
“I have much to learn,” Charlotte said. “About everything. How to dress, how to act, how to speak. I wish to do this as quickly as possible.”
“Well, you’re in good hands.” Allen leaned back in his chair. “Have you decided on a nickname to test out yet?”
“I was never permitted one,” she admitted. “I don’t know where to start.”
“Most people start with their base name. Some people call me Al, for instance, but I don’t really like it much. If you don’t like what people call you, don’t respond. They’ll figure it out.”
“Charlotte. So – char? Like charred ashes?” She leaned forward and poked the cold fire with a stick resting there for exactly that purpose.
“Only if you plan to take up arson. There’s also Lotte, or Lottie.”
“If I’d been a boy, I’d have been Charles,” she mused. “Is ‘Charlie’ too unusual?”
“I don’t believe there are rules when it comes to nicknames.” He tipped his uniform hat to her. “Pleased to meet you, Charlie.”
Footsteps and voices became evident in the background as the siblings bickered their way down the ramp.
“Ah, there you are,” Allen said. “I’m afraid I have to get on. Before I go, may I present to you Miss Charlie?”
Joel looked like he’d swallowed a frog. Kallina burst out laughing.
***
