Starbound (38 page)

Halfway through his short speech Karina reached over and took my hand. She looked beautiful in the cold winter sun, her oval face
framed by a luxurious fur coat covering her formal dress. My admiration for her was growing by the day. We both had much work ahead, but we had each other, and that meant something.

As the grand duke finished his remarks, he turned first to his daughter, and then to me. He took our hands and joined them together above our heads, and symbolically led us to the front of the balcony, then stepped back. This set off a frenzy of cheering, and we couldn't help but smile. Then the duke patted my shoulder, smiled broadly, and encouraged us to take the center stage.

We both stepped forward to the balcony's edge. I looked to my bride, a woman I didn't love yet, but certainly could with time, then down at the jubilant crowd and waved. When I looked back at her she smiled at me with pride, and in that moment I was taken away by a sudden urge of spontaneity. I leaned in and kissed her sweetly on the lips.

The crowd roared.

ACKNOWLEDGMENTS

Shout outs for this one go to my editors, Sheila Gilbert at DAW, who is indispensable, and Michael Rowley at Ebury/Del Rey UK, for his insights into the nuances of the Europe/Rest-of-the-World market.

Big thanks to my agent Joshua Bilmes, who constantly makes my work better, and lastly to my friend Tony Daniel, who I will continue to find new and interesting ways to kill in the
future.

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