She dropped her head in a pretense of humility. In her left periphery, Magnus was looking out at the crowd, his expression the closest to joy she’d ever seen on him. (That’s what a diplomat with a future looked like.)
In her right periphery, Margot’s hands were laced in her lap, so tense that her knuckles were white.
Suyana couldn’t suppress a smile. More than the cameras clacking or the gallery above them going mad, those trembling hands meant Suyana had hit home.
Tomorrow offers for committee places would come in; Magnus would be arranging interviews. Tomorrow, it would be that much harder to make her disappear.
Suyana lifted her head, letting the applause go a moment longer before she continued with the promises and particulars that no one would really remember in the morning. It didn’t matter. The Assembly and Chordata and the public had all seen what they needed to see; that was all they had to remember, for now. The rest would happen slowly as she climbed.
If it was a terrifying thing to think of, she didn’t let herself tremble; if she glanced up at the gallery to find a familiar face, she didn’t let herself linger.
She had people to impress, and there were cameras everywhere.
Suyana stood firmly at the center of the stage, looked out at the room, and began.
ACKNOWLEDGMENTS
As always, the number of people involved in the making of a book is significant, and I’m lucky to have had them. If this book has ended up in your hands, I owe thanks to everyone at Saga Press for their enthusiasm and dedication. In particular, I want to thank my editor, Navah, who was the first person to whom I ever mentioned this book (at a lunch too long ago to mention, with Ellen, whose eardrums we’ll assume for dramatic clarity were slightly slower and heard it second) and who has been its champion ever since. Thanks to my former agent, Joe, who was the first to take an interest in it, and my agent, Barry, who has been an invaluable adviser and advocate. And deepest thanks to Stephanie, Kelly, Elizabeth, Alexa, and everyone who was endlessly generous with their time and comments in shaping this book from its earliest drafts, and whose support means so much.
GENEVIEVE VALENTINE is the author of the critically acclaimed Mechanique: A Tale of the Circus Tresaulti, which won the IAFA Crawford Fantasy Award and was nominated for the Nebula. The Girls at the Kingfisher Club, her second novel, was published by Atria in 2014. Her short fiction has been nominated for both the World Fantasy and Shirley Jackson Awards, and anthologized in best of the year collections. She has written nonfiction pieces for NPR, the AV Club, and the Los Angeles Review of Books. Visit her at genevievevalentine.com.
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SAGA PRESS
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This book is a work of fiction. Any references to historical events, real people, or real places are used fictitiously. Other names, characters, places, and events are products of the author’s imagination, and any resemblance to actual events or places or persons, living or dead, is entirely coincidental.
Text copyright © 2015 by Genevieve Valentine
Jacket photograph copyright © 2015 by Getty Images/Brad Wilson
All rights reserved, including the right to reproduce this book or portions thereof in any form whatsoever. For information address Saga Press Subsidiary Rights Department, 1230 Avenue of the Americas, New York, NY 10020
First Saga Press hardcover edition March 2015
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The text for this book is set in Minion Pro.
Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data
Valentine, Genevieve.
Persona / Genevieve Valentine. — First edition.
pages ; cm
Summary: “In a world where diplomacy has become celebrity, a young ambassador survives an assassination attempt and must join with an undercover paparazzo in a race to save her life, spin the story, and secure the future of her young country in this near-future political thriller.”—Provided by publisher.
ISBN 978-1-4814-2512-4 (hardcover) — ISBN 978-1-4814-2514-8 (eBook)
1. Ambassadors—Fiction. 2. Paparazzi—Fiction. 3. Political fiction. I. Title.
PS3622.A436P47 2015 813’.6—dc23 2014027960
Persona Page 21