Renegade

Renegade Chapter 4

Chapter 4

Maria, Rose, and friends of theirs that they had enlisted did a very good job of getting her ready for the grand ball within an hour. Her hair was twisted and braided into an elegant updo with the hair ornament her father had just given her holding part of it in place in the back, and her silver and emerald tiara taking center stage in front. Her ball gown was made up of rustling layers of gold and blue silk with beaded lace sleeves.

Her cousins had already proceeded down the grand staircase, all of them dressed in either a suit, dress, or some kind of military uniform. Raven had forced Hellen to change out of her military uniform into a borrowed lavender empire-waist gown. A crowd of provincial officials, corporation heads, social elite, and other guests were now waiting for Aria and her father to descend.

At last, the master of ceremonies called "His Imperial Majesty, Emperor Sebastian Alexander Allistair, and Her Imperial Highness, Crown Princess Aria Galatea Allistair," over the loudspeaker, as he had done for the other notable guests.

When they stepped into the ballroom, a chamber orchestra that had been hired for the occasion began playing the Imperial Anthem, and the guests applauded them. By the end of the short march, the two had reached the ballroom's center. The orchestra members saw the cue and started to play the traditional opening waltz. The crowns on both their heads gleamed as father and daughter danced together under the chandelier of the ballroom. Guests made a circle around them and pushed one another to get a better view of the debutante princess.

Dancing was one of the things Aria did best. After the two minute waltz ended, Aria curtsied to her father, and he bowed at the same time. Then more modern music began to play over the speaker system, and the crowd broke up and paired off. Once in awhile the orchestra would play a waltz or another piece of ballroom dancing music. Eventually Aria lost count of how many people asked to dance with her and how many times a cousin or someone else asked to cut in. No one else wore blue, gold, green, or white to allow Aria and her father to stand out.

By 8:30, after an hour of dancing, all the guests had filtered into the palace gardens to allow the palace servants to set up tables for the banquet. Introductions and small talk were made. Shortly thereafter, at about 9:00, the transition from dance floor to banquet hall was completed, and everyone filed back inside. Round tables dotted the floor tiled in black marble, and a rectangular head table was placed at the north end of the room with a four-tiered birthday cake on a smaller table next to it. On the eastern wall, another long rectangular table held the wrapped boxes of varying sizes that were Aria's birthday gifts.

Events like Aria's birthday party weren't held too often anymore. Over a decade or so of cold war and actual war with rebels in the colony worlds had prioritized resources for the military above using the same materials for social events. Tonight was special, though. Crown Princess Aria would only turn 18 once in her lifetime. Delicacies from all over the Terran Empire were served for dinner. Aria's favorite was an assortment of Japanese sushi served on a bamboo platter. Before the cake was cut, an official presentation of gifts was made. A small podium was brought in for whoever was giving the gift to say a few words before the gift was presented to Aria.

Lawrence stepped up to the microphone first. "My dearest cousin Aria," he began. "Congratulations on making it to your 18th birthday. Now, my gift may not look all that big. In fact, it is the smallest package on the table. The actual gift wouldn't fit in this room. Now, while I was deciding what to get you, I thought 'A unique person such as my cousin deserves an equally unique gift.'"

He picked an envelope made out of shiny striped wrapping paper off the table next to him, and walked the short distance to where Aria was sitting. "I give to you, cousin, the first and only Allistair StarCorp. Messenger-class transport ship," he continued as he placed the envelope before Aria.

She opened the envelope carefully, not wanting to rip the beautiful paper. Inside was an electronic key on a metal chain. "Thank you, Lawrence," she said.

People around the room applauded as Lawrence took his seat again. A few looked miffed, as if they were thinking "Why didn't I think of something like that."

For the next half and hour, similar speeches were made. Wrapping and tissue paper piled up around Aria and was cleared away occasionally by servants. She had Maria and Rose take the actual gifts back to her wing of the palace. Around halfway through, her cousin Hellen gave her a copy of an ancient Chinese book, The Art of War. Both of them had previously read it, but Hellen remembered how much Aria had enjoyed it.

The last person to present their gift was Aria's cousin Dacia. Her box was wrapped in silver paper, rather plain in contrast to some of the other ones.
"Aria, I know we aren't that close, and that we don't know each other well, but I still wanted to put some thought into your gift," she began her speech. "My boss also wanted to contribute."

A few eyebrows were raised at this. Everyone knew Dacia Blaythe had once worked for the Imperial Intelligence Service, but then she split from them, and no one knew who she worked for now. Dacia cleared her throat and began again. "So with his help I got you this." She motioned for Aria to open the box.

Under the box's layer of wrapping paper, was a pyramid-looking object that had a lens on one end. Dacia continued talking, "It's state-of-the-art holographic projector. It can display maps, receive and send holocalls, and can be hooked up to ships as a navigation system. I hope you enjoy it."

When she sat down, the guests politely applauded her. After Aria cut the cake, the tables in the middle were cleared out and people began to dance again. The event concluded around midnight. Aria said goodbye to all the guests and then went up to her room to get ready for bed. As her maids helped her out of the dress and other parts of her ensemble, Aria couldn't help but feel that the gift she received from her cousins that night would have an great impact on her life in the near future.