Bitter Wind (Death's Handmaiden Book 2)

by Niall Teasdale

  ‘So… politics?’

  Zackery’s smile was broad and sort of proud. ‘You have a great future in clan society.’

  ‘And we all have a great future working our way through the administrative process,’ Rhianna said. ‘Let’s get started, or we’ll still be at it when the sun sets.’

  ~~~

  How had the human race survived for this long? It was a good question, as far as Nava could see, because they should have all died of boredom by now. Or just getting water should have been tied up in so much red tape that people died of thirst while filling in forms.

  Nava’s reading of Rhianna’s body language suggested that the spy – or whatever it was Rhianna really did – was finding the bureaucracy tiring too. She was better at dealing with it, certainly, but what she really wanted to do was run through the building with an automatic weapon. Nava had reached that stage an hour ago. This was what it was like when you had two of the most powerful families on the planet sponsoring you through the adoption process! What was it like when you were some low-ranking family like the Connelly Avorns? Maybe it would have been easier to join them, given that fewer people cared.

  Luckily, Nava and Rhianna had Zackery there to ease things along. As far as Nava could tell, Zackery was finding it all a breeze. He wore what appeared to be a genuine smile when he spoke to the various officials handling the process. He spoke with a calm voice, always the consummate professional in the face of petty officials intent on ensuring that every procedure was carried out precisely according to the book. Nava could not see any stress, but she was fairly sure that Zackery wanted to murder every last one of them with his bare hands.

  Right now, the trio were waiting in a small room with a table and six chairs. Nava had been told that the ordeal was almost over, but then they had been taken to this room, which looked like any small meeting room on any world anywhere, and told it would be ‘just a few minutes.’ By Nava’s estimate, that had been twenty minutes ago. At least they had coffee. Good coffee. Dark thoughts about the proportion of the administrative budget spent on coffee purchases were passing through Nava’s mind.

  Then the door opened and a woman walked in, tailed by a harried-looking man. Nava recognised the woman almost immediately. She was a little taller than Nava, but not by more than a centimetre, slim, attractive, and almost certainly of nearly pure Japanese ancestry. Rather like Yuzuki Trenton, this woman appeared to be a china doll brought to life. An extravagant amount of jet-black hair was wound into a tight, business-like bun at the back of her head. Her eyes were very dark brown. She appeared on the news channels not infrequently, always calm, precise, and carrying an obvious air of authority about her. This was Misaki Himura Sonkei, the current General Secretary of the Clan Council, the person who sat at the very top of the Alliance’s administration.

  ‘Zackery,’ Misaki said as soon as she saw the man.

  Zackery was getting to his feet, which he would have done no matter who had come in, but the look on his face suggested that he was a little surprised to see his clanswoman here. ‘Misaki. It’s a pleasure to see you, of course, but you didn’t need to bother yourself with–’

  Misaki waved a hand to cut off the speech and then, to Nava’s surprise, stepped forward to give the huge clan leader a hug. ‘First of all, I haven’t seen you in an age.’

  ‘Three weeks, Misaki.’

  ‘Too long. Second, when I heard that you were personally ushering someone through the adoption process for the Greylings, I had to come see who was receiving such an honour.’ Her gaze turned toward Nava. Nava felt a lot like she was being placed into an electron microscope chamber.

  Bowing from the hips as low as she could manage, Nava said, ‘It’s a great honour to meet you, General Secretary. My name is, currently, Nava Ward.’

  ‘There’s no need to bow so deeply, Nava Ward,’ Misaki said. ‘We’re going to be members of the same clan soon.’

  Nava straightened her back. ‘But right now, we are not, and your position would warrant considerable deference anyway, General Secretary.’

  ‘And so we move on to point three,’ Misaki said, which seemed like a change of subject. ‘Have you any idea how few times in a given year I actually get to do something nice? That’s why I made time to come down here and conduct the final ceremony myself. I’m sorry to keep you waiting. Budget meetings always overrun.’

  ‘You’re going to do this personally?’ Rhianna asked. She failed to keep the surprise out of her voice.

  ‘Well, I know a little of the background story here. I know why Zackery is here. Why not have a Himura adding to the signatory list. Plus, as I said, I can say I did something pleasant today, which is an accomplishment in my job.’

  ‘Far be it from me to deny you that.’

  ‘Then let’s get started.’ Misaki held out a hand. The young man, who looked like he spent the entire day running around after the General Secretary trying to keep her in check, handed her a sheet of paper. She read over it quickly and nodded. ‘All in order. Now… Nava Ward, do you promise to uphold the ideals of the Sonkei clan with all of your heart?’

  This was the formal part. Nava had rehearsed it in her head a number of times, but it had always been with a generic, faceless official. Still, it was all the same words. ‘I do so promise.’

  ‘Do you hold the honour of the Greyling family as your own?’

  ‘I do.’ That was probably not entirely true, but she could say it without feeling guilty. It was an honour to be adopted by such a powerful family and Nava could repay that honour in kind.

  ‘Do you accept, without reservation, the name of Greyling Sonkei?’

  ‘Without reservation, I do.’

  ‘Then I, Misaki Himura Sonkei, declare that you are now Nava Greyling Sonkei. May you be a credit to your family and clan.’ Pause. ‘And that’s that. All that red tape and the actual ceremony takes two minutes. Terrible, isn’t it?’

  ‘You still have to do the signing, General Secretary,’ the aide said.

  Misaki waved the comment away. ‘More boring red tape. We’ll wrap that up in a minute. The last reason I wanted to be here is that I know what happened at the symposium this summer. I had to meet the young woman responsible for defeating a small army, and a tank, singlehanded.’

  ‘It was a very small army, General Secretary,’ Nava replied.

  ‘You can call me Misaki when we’re not in public, Nava. We’re in the same clan. And Misaki is a lot shorter. You saved us from a really massive headache that day, Nava, and no one is ever going to know what you did.’

  Nava gave a small shrug. ‘The people who matter know, Misaki. I don’t care about fame. My friends were in danger, so I did what I was made to do.’

  Misaki shook her head. ‘No. If you’d been doing what you were made to do, you’d have been on the other side. If fame is not something you crave, I think you’ve joined just the right family. No one ever finds out about most of the things the Greylings do.’

  Rhianna frowned, but it was pretty clear it was for show. ‘Only most? I think we’re doing something wrong.’

  Shinden School of Sorcery.

  ‘And back in time for tea,’ Melissa said. She was walking alongside Nava and Mitsuko, heading for a restaurant on the Estate. Generally, students did not go to the semi-suburban area of the campus where the faculty with families lived, but there were reasons to. Chief among those reasons was that the Estate boasted the only actual restaurant on campus. There were plenty of places to eat, sure, but they were mostly designed to feed students in bulk.

  ‘It’s not that far by train,’ Nava said. ‘An hour there, an hour back. A lot of tedium in the middle.’

  ‘Yes, but you had the General Secretary signing your adoption document. That’s like…’

  ‘Overdoing it a little,’ Mitsuko said. ‘Though it was nice of Misaki to make time for it. I’d imagine she was telling the truth. It can’t be often that she gets to do something which can simply be classified as a pleasant du
ty.’

  ‘I suppose not,’ Melissa agreed. ‘It’s still a big honour, right? Most people don’t have the General Secretary officiating at something like that.’

  ‘No. No they don’t.’ Mitsuko frowned. ‘And mostly it was so that no one would complain when they found out about me and Nava.’

  ‘I suppose that’s not so good, but… Still a big honour.’

  Le Jardin Magique sounded like a French restaurant, looked like a Japanese teahouse, at least from the outside, and served food from all over the Clan Worlds. It also had a snooty-looking maître d’ tall enough to look down his nose at Nava and Melissa. He would have had to lean back a lot to do that to Mitsuko. His attitude changed when she said she had a reservation under the name Mitsuko Trenton Sonkei. The transformation was, in fact, almost magical, and he led them to a table toward the middle of the large space which took up much of the building’s interior. The VIP guest was being put on display, which did not especially please either Mitsuko or Nava and had Melissa blushing. However, they persevered.

  Menus were handed out. The restaurant did cater to all the guests they might get, so there was a drinks menu which consisted entirely of non-alcoholic beverages so that young adults could select something without the temptation. The maître d’ introduced them to Miles, their waiter, and then they were left to select something to eat.

  ‘Don’t look at the prices,’ Mitsuko said.

  ‘There aren’t any on the menu,’ Nava pointed out.

  ‘Good point. I’m paying, so don’t worry about the prices.’

  ‘I wasn’t, but Mel probably would.’

  ‘I probably would,’ Melissa agreed. ‘Then again… I can’t believe it, but they have a recipe for beef stew from Avorna. This may be boring, but taste of home here I come. And it’s probably not expensive, so I won’t worry over burdening you, Suki.’

  ‘I suspect they’ll have figured out a way to make it cost more than you’d expect,’ Mitsuko replied, ‘but it’s not an issue anyway. One meal at a restaurant is not going to cause excessive damage to my allowance. Besides, we get free food tomorrow night.’

  ‘Mm. I’m still going to be nervous. I don’t know what to wear. I’m not sure I have anything really suitable for a high-society party.’

  ‘You do,’ Nava said. ‘I went shopping while I was in Alliance City and I saw something which was just perfect for you. So I bought it.’

  Melissa gasped. ‘You shouldn’t have! Nava that’s–’

  ‘Appropriate for a young lady of Nava’s new standing,’ Mitsuko said. ‘So long as she doesn’t make a habit of it, giving gifts to those she believes deserve them, or to those she wishes to impress, is appropriate.’

  ‘And you helped me a lot when I first came here, Mel,’ Nava said. ‘You were my first friend. Fawn Tyrell is sort of a friend, but she’s also my liaison officer. You were my first actual friend. Ever. I think I’m allowed to buy you a dress. And some boots. You have to have the boots to make the dress look good. I think I’m allowed to buy you a dress and some boots.’

  ‘Okay,’ Melissa said. ‘Well, I think I’ve protested enough, so I’ll accept your gracious gift. Can I see it later?’

  ‘I had it and my outfit sent to the mansion. They’ll be waiting for us when we get there.’

  ‘Okay. That’s very practical.’

  Mitsuko glanced at Nava. She had the distinct feeling that her taciturn lover was up to something, but Melissa was buying it so far. Best not to rock the boat. ‘I believe I’ll have a steak. And we’ll get a bottle of one of their better grape juices. We can at least pretend we’re toasting Nava’s promotion.’

  ‘I think I’ll have steak too,’ Nava said. ‘With a peppercorn sauce. Never had that. Sounds interesting.’

  ‘Hopefully this place lives up to its reputation and you enjoy it.’ Mitsuko turned slightly, intent on summoning their waiter. He appeared at their table as though dropped in through the ceiling. Sometimes, being a Trenton could be worth it.

  The Trenton Mansion, 235/10/3.

  ‘There is no way I can wear this,’ Melissa said. She was wearing it and her assessment was based on her image in the mirror in Mitsuko’s dressing room. ‘There is no way this is suitable attire for a party like this.’

  ‘You’re not married, so it’s fine,’ Nava replied. ‘Avorna is a little more staid, I assume.’

  ‘Yes, it is. Not that I’ve ever been to a high-society party back home, but I’m fairly sure the dresses they wear have fabric in them.’ The dress in question was really more of a ladder. Hoops of black fabric were suspended around Melissa’s body by a pair of vertical elements which, when combined with the hoops, formed a sort of tank dress framework. The only solid area was a panel sitting over Melissa’s breasts, obscuring the important bits. There were black panties beneath it and the thigh-high stiletto boots Nava had mentioned, but a case could be made that Melissa was practically naked.

  ‘Well, here on Shinden, the rule is that if you’ve got it, you flaunt it.’

  ‘What is it you think I’ve got?’

  ‘A great body and fantastic boobs,’ Nava replied as though these were basic facts and Melissa should just accept them. ‘It’s not like I’m asking you to wear something I wouldn’t. You have seen what I’m wearing, right?’ Nava was wearing a sleeveless, black plastic body-con dress with a pointless cleavage window in it. Pointless, because the only parts of the dress which were opaque were the seams. She was wearing a lace thong and pasties under it, but the effect was ‘shrink-wrapped naked woman.’ Her new boots were a little shorter than Melissa’s. They were also open-toed with a laced-up vent up the front of each boot. To complete the outfit, Nava was wearing a black band around her throat, closed at the front with a small, silver padlock.

  ‘I’m getting a strange feeling of déjà vu,’ Mitsuko said as she emerged from the wardrobe at the back of the room. Comparatively, she was wearing more. Or at least, what she was wearing concealed more. It might have been described as a summer dress if it had been in a brighter colour; it had a floaty skirt to mid-thigh and thin shoulder straps. Maybe the deep plunge at the front was a little extreme. Maybe not. However, the garment was black. Opaque to the waist, it became almost transparent by the time it got to the straps. Pasties adorned the peaks of Mitsuko’s high, pointy breasts. She was in ridiculously high, heeled pumps. ‘You look gorgeous, Mel. I’d love to wear something like that, but I don’t have the body for it.’

  ‘Your body is just about flawless,’ Melissa said with a note of envy.

  ‘Untrue, though I’ll accept that the flaws are few without embarrassment. However, that dress works best with a certain kind of figure.’

  ‘One with breasts that can overflow the container,’ Nava said.

  ‘Precisely. I also think the hoop design would look silly on a taller woman, but the side boob is the big selling point. You, Mel, were just about made for that dress. We should take pictures and sell them to the designer. We could make a fortune.’

  Melissa, now blushing profusely, waved the comment away. ‘Oh, don’t. I’m nothing special.’

  ‘Déjà vu,’ Mitsuko said, heading for the makeup table. ‘I definitely feel like I’ve done this whole conversation before.’

  ‘I can’t imagine what you mean,’ Nava said.

  ~~~

  ‘Ladies and gentlemen.’ Zackery’s voice called out across the room and the conversation faded. It was a big room. Nava called it the ballroom, though no one had officially given it that name in her presence. Zackery was up on the stage. Behind him, a small orchestra was preparing to play for the guests to dance to. ‘Fellow members of the Sonkei clan and friends,’ Zackery went on. His gaze passed over Melissa, who blushed. She was, apparently, the only person in the room who was not a Sonkei, so Zackery should have just said ‘friend.’

  Returning his eyes to the gathered Sonkeis, Zackery started on his main speech. ‘We are here for something of a rare event. Our clan has adopted a new member and that is c
ause for celebration in itself. Now, our new clanswoman is a Greyling and we don’t often hold events like this for Greylings.’ He smiled. ‘They like to keep their secrets, do the Greylings.’ Appropriate laughter. ‘In this case, however, Yuzuki and I have a particular desire to welcome this Greyling into our clan. So, here we are, and none of you can complain since you’re getting free food and booze.’

  Standing just behind and to the right of Zackery, Nava wondered just what he planned to say. She was there with Mitsuko, Yuzuki, and Rhianna, waiting to be formally introduced to a bunch of people she barely knew. She supposed it was not that much different to the first day at SAS2, though there were a lot more people here. Not the whole clan. Not even close to the whole clan. There were representatives of most of the families, but the clan was somewhere around three point seven billion people and even the mansion was not big enough for that.

  ‘I first heard of Nava Ward,’ Zackery continued, ‘when my second daughter, Mitsuko, announced that she had acquired a bodyguard due to some problems at school. I was a little dubious that a first year studying support magic was a suitable escort, but Nava saved Mitsuko’s life. More than once. It’s probably my fault that the Greylings grabbed her since I asked them to look into her background, but even if they hadn’t, Yuzuki and I decided that we would have to hire Nava so that no other clan got her. She is going to be a great asset for the clan in the future. She has already proven herself such, even before becoming one of us. It did not surprise me even slightly that the Greylings wanted to adopt her.’

  He paused, eyes scanning the room briefly. ‘Finally, before I introduce her properly, there’s one other thing I need the clan to hear from us, rather than some gossip channel. This has nothing to do with why she’s been adopted, but it is one reason for holding this party and for me to make a showing of approval. Mitsuko and Nava are dating. Mitsuko has wanted to tell the world for months now and Nava has been holding her back to preserve my daughter’s reputation. Well, now there’s no need. And now, when it does turn up on the gossip feeds, all of you can say “oh, yes, so what” to whoever is talking about it. Now, without further ado, I present to her new clan, Nava Greyling Sonkei.’