Alutia Rising, Anniversary Edition (Alutia Rising Series, Book 1) (4 page)

Sasha, of a similar “noble beautiful”, or so
she’d been told since her youth, had hair as dark as night that
flowed straight to her hips. Forming a striking contrast with her
fair skin, making both appear all the more vibrant, while
highlighting her luscious, pouty lips, with a dark, almost rose red
tint. But it also framed a jaw that was not quite sharp, though
much more pronounced then Tiana’s, alongside a longer nose of a
perfect shape, that felt too large for her feminine face. Though
Tiana had told her, time and time again, that her slender, amethyst
eyes, and their dramatic way of sweeping towards her ears, always
attracted the gazes of all who entered her presence, and made her
appear the picture of “noble beautiful”.

Though Sasha had always wanted to believe
Tiana spoke not the truth, she’d come to accept that she, like
Tiana, were striking examples of “noble beautiful” sculpted from
long past genetic modification. Though Sasha had to admit one major
difference between the two ladies, and the reason behind why Sasha
disliked the Tidelia wispy dress design so; the fact that she stood
183 centimeters tall, mostly in the leg, while Tiana stood only 150
centimeters, spread perfectly between leg and torso. Of course,
Tiana said it was all in her mind, having measurements to back up
the fact that she shared a similar ratio. But whenever Sasha’s gaze
caught a mirror, she looked nothing but leg.

At least they match well my bosom,
she
mused, turning to Tiana, hands resting on her hips.

“My lady, you called for me?” Tiana curtsied
with a trained grace, allowing a barely perceptible smirk to spread
across her perfectly sculpted lips. Unable to resist smiling back
in kind, Sasha realized the game was once again afoot.

“Yes, and you must remember to arrive as soon
you receive my summons, Tiana. I get ever so lonely, and having to
wait an eternity for you breaks my ever so weak heart,” Sasha's
exaggerated gestures of being heartbroken brought a giggle to the
younger woman's lips.

“My princess! Should my behavior offend, I
shall take any punishment you deem fit,” Tiana responded mockingly,
facing her rear towards Sasha, allowing her to playfully swat her
buttocks. Both ladies laughed gaily.

“What would I do without you, Tiana? You make
this boring life just barely palatable,” exhaled Sasha as she
glided back into her dressing area on the far side of her luxurious
bedchamber.

“With all the stiff old traditionalists
around here, it is the only thing I can do for you, Your Highness.”
Another smirk rounded Tiana's face as she bowed. Sasha threw her a
forced fiery glare.

“Enough with the; your highnesses and my
ladies. We are alone. There is no need for formalities.” Tiana
gasped, feigning shock, like Sasha had just slapped her for no
reason.

“But...but, Your Majesty, I would never be so
bold as to not show the proper respect that your title
deserves...and with your new post as Grand Duchess of Alutia! I
would be lucky to keep my head if any disrespect was perceived!”
The smirk on Tiana's lips grew to a full blown smile. Sasha turned
her back, “You win, Tiana, you win,” responding while flipping
through a row of dresses that appeared within the closet set flush
into the bedchamber’s wall.

“Do I not always, My Royal Highness?” Once
again Tiana curtsied with her response. Sasha, deciding the game
had run its course, started holding up dresses and gowns for Tiana
to judge.

“What should I wear for the trip? I was
thinking that the current style may not be appropriate for travel.
I was considering something a little more...robust...” Sasha placed
the dresses back in the closet, which vanished, the wall becoming
solid the moment she stepped away.

“Yes, Your Highness. I thought the same thing
and had a special outfit prepared for this occasion.” Tiana showed
the slight distant expression that was common when using ones BC
node, being “node locked”. Sasha stared at her lady-in-waiting,
raising a confused eyebrow, but Tiana ignored her, wandering around
the bed, then seating herself on its edge. A few minutes passed in
silence before one of the castle’s many servants arrived with a
sealed bundle. As the servant laid it upon the bed, Sasha couldn’t
help but gasp in surprise.

The outfit that appeared within was not a
dress, but noble clothing of a similar make to those commonly worn
by male nobles, ornately decorated, of course, but a coat and
trousers nonetheless. Sasha stared at Tiana with a raised
eyebrow.

“I asked around and found that it is quite
common, and even expected in some circles, for the highest ranking
noble, no matter lady or sir, to adorn a noble doublet and trousers
during escorted travel. You do not need to wear it when we lounge,
of course, but when moving about the starship it is considered
proper manners, Princess.” Tiana wiped nonexistent dust from the
doublet as she explained her reasoning.

Sasha, once again, stared at her lady, 10
years her junior at 16, but with the intelligence and worldliness
of someone well beyond her tender age. Suddenly, one of the words
that Tiana had spoken caught her interest,

“Us?” questioned Sasha with a slight tremble.
“Since when did I decide that you would accompany me,” unable to
hide her surprise and unexpected annoyance. Tiana smirked once
more, but with less of her usual mirth.

“My mother is very good friends with Queen
Vahna, as you know, and they both decided it would be good for me
to continue being your lady-in-waiting, and allow you to assign me
an earldom or mark in your duchy when I reach the appropriate
age...of course,” Tiana's said matter-of-factly, which as she
probably planned, caused Sasha an immense amount of irritation.

“What right do our parents have to decide who
I assign posts within my duchy? Do they think me incompetent before
I have even started? First, they do not give me a choice in the
matter, then they start telling me how I am supposed to rule!”
Sasha knew she was acting childish, but everything had been welling
up inside, finally bursting forth.

Just yesterday she was a pampered
third-princess living on one of the most beautiful planets in the
entire NHA. But now, she was preparing for journey to be crowned
Grand Duchess of a new duchy called Alutia, situated on the other
side of the galaxy.

Of course I know the noble title is very
prestigious!
She wanted to scream. But when her father's
decision had reached her ears, she had been ill prepared and still
found herself shaken, unable to fully accept the sudden change in
her peaceful lifestyle.

From what information she could glean, it
seemed her father was irritated at her lack of appropriate suitors.
There were a few, of course, and she did enjoy a couple
relationships she thought would last forever during her teenage
years. Except, all of the men turned out to be pompous
traditionalist asses, including the last man who courted her, who
had left a scar so deep, it still hadn’t fully healed.

Most of her more recent suitors were little
different, being arrogant traditionalists whose interest would wane
after realizing a third-princess would not inherit the throne of
galaxy 189 and had no land claims; she being, for all intents and
purposes, the same as an unlanded noble. She wished they would
conduct the proper research before wasting her time, instead of
assuming that since the royal family was the highest sovereignty in
the galaxy, she would inherit at least part of that claim. But only
the crowned prince or princess had that privilege, and her elder
brother, Crown Prince Kohan, currently held that honor.

But her issue, along with that of her elder
sister, was unique. Normally, children of royal families were in
high demand, being easily married off to other ruling nobles for
strategic or trade alliances. Fortunately, or unfortunately
depending on your viewpoint, Sasha's great-great grandfather, King
Tolhan Vn'Oco, had decreed that his heirs should marry who they
deem appropriate, and not be bound by the decision of the parents,
which were usually swayed by politics. This was in response to his
own sister being married off to a noble who thought women mere
playthings, and ended up killing her in one of his more disgusting
sex games. Many stories had been written about King Tolhan's grief,
having dearly loved his sister, along with the fate of his
brother-in-law, whose family was rumored to have met a most
gruesome end.

So to avoid such a thing happening again, a
Royal Proclamation was added to the Galaxy 189 Law Book, and
reaffirmed by an Emperor’s Proclamation so no future galaxy 189
king or queen could overturn it. The decree stated that all sons
and daughters, except the crowned prince or princess, shall be
removed from the king and queen at birth, to be raised, in
guardianship, by a noble family of their choice. Contact was
allowed, but limited to a few times a year, while the only direct
influence was as royalty to noble, not parent to child.

Still feeling her blood simmering, Sasha
turned back to her lady-in-waiting and froze. Tiana's expression
had frozen solid, tiny tears escaping from the edge of her
fluttering eyes. Sasha’s rage melted away and regret took its
place. She rushed to her friend's side.

“Oh, Tiana! I am so very sorry...forgive me.
I did not mean to hurt you so. I would love for you to accompany me
to my new duchy and of course you will have whatever you wish when
you reach the proper age,” Sasha apologized with haste, trying to
stem the tide of tears flowing from her suddenly teenage again
lady-in-waiting. Tiana looked into her eyes and Sasha realized, at
that moment, that Tiana was also being forced to do something
against her will.

Who, in the universe, would choose to be
shipped away from friends and family?

Tears came unexpected to Sasha as Tiana's
became a torrent of sorrow. Tiana buried her face in Sasha's bosom.
Both girls, hugging each other fiercely, let escape the frustration
that had been building from the moment they heard about being
forcibly shipped from their childhood home.

Quietly, the servant slipped out of the room,
all the while showing an expression commonly seen when using a BC
node, being “node locked”. Sasha caught a glimpse through the
tears, knowing exactly who the servant would be contacting.

A minute passed as the girls continued to cry
in grief when a new warmth embraced them and the gentle, almost
musky, aroma of her guardian filled her being. New tears joined
them and she realized her grief was nothing to that of Lady Liana,
who was not only losing her daughter, Tiana, but also Sasha, who
she raised as a daughter, to the hands of galactic politics.

TSB Lieutenant Daniel lounged in the Terra
Space Battalion observation outpost, absently observing recruitment
grounds X17a, where the projected, three-dimensional image of his
next unsuspecting victim floated in the air before him. He reached
for the bottle of water, sitting atop the only table in the tiny
square room, stretching his stiff limbs while removing his legs
from the semi-spherical irradiated particle display unit, or PDU,
rising half a meter from the floor before him. The device provided
him a place to rest his legs, alongside its primary purpose of
projecting a crystal clear, three-dimensional image in the air
before him, while simultaneously projecting a workstation over his
lap, allowing him to manually input or access required data.

He entered a request for primary approval of
recruitment trial initiation, again bypassing the use of the much
faster and more efficient direct BC node link. Though he did have
his reasons, enjoying the tactile feel of the projected buttons and
icons, while more importantly, having the ability to review his
decisions before they were captured by the TSB’s planetary matrix
system, which was impossible when transmitting thoughts with his BC
node to the BAP integrated into the same PDU station.

Approval flashed across his display, and
couldn’t help but grin, studying closely the petty man in the
image. He appeared healthier than most, aged anywhere between the
early twenties and late forties, the thick layer of filth that
clung to him making any accurate gage impossible. The man stood a
meager 177 centimeters tall, with a weight that couldn't be much
more than 77 kilograms. He seemed happy enough, whistling with a
skip in his step, occasionally stumbling over the rotting railroad
crossbeams, the large burlap sack he wore on his back trying to
pull him down.

“Never seen a happy hobo before,” Daniel
muttered, replying to the Program in charge of recruitment with his
phase one recommendations.

His current assignment was simple. Test the
outcasts of Earth's society for aptitude and possible usage by the
Terra Space Battalion, or TSB, a unique organization within the
NHA.

Earth, being not an official member of the
New Universal Empirical Human Alliance, meant it did not fall under
the rules governing colonized planets. But due to its unique
history and purpose, it needed to be protected from outside
influence. For this, Earth’s orphans were collected and raised in
special TSB orphanages, like Daniel, or more recently, harvested
from Earth's adult population, mostly from the numerous dredges and
outcasts. These recruits, or scum as Daniel thought of them, were
required to successfully pass a series of tests, or trials, which
if successful, would allow them to join the ranks of Earth's
protectors, becoming members of the Terra Space Battalion, or
TSB.

Daniel had, at one time, asked his superiors
why it had to be this way. Why did they not just recruit the best
Earth society had to offer, or push further for recruits from the
massive NHA population? The response was simple. If high-profile
members of Earth’s society vanished, or the NHA nobility became
increasingly curious about Earth, the TSB might be discovered, or
more NHA nobles may try to sneak onto Earth, negatively affecting
Earth’s culture and development, as had happened already on more
than a few occasions.