Lord Roosevelt took the stand and faced the audience. Colin had been surprised to encounter a new Lord Roosevelt — it had been unlikely that anyone would actually want the job — and had looked into his background, only to discover that he was barely related to Stacy Roosevelt. He had been fifth-tier, almost certain never to inherit the headship, until the poisoned chalice that the Roosevelt Family and Clan had become was passed to him.
Poor bastard, Colin thought, dryly. In Lord Roosevelt’s place, he would have given serious thought to changing his name and taking the next ship out to the Rim with as much loot as he could carry. The Roosevelt Clan had no future now. Its clients had deserted it even before the Fall of Earth, it’s industries had been taken by the rebels and used to fight the war. They had nothing left to keep them alive.
“We are gathered here today to celebrate the wedding of two of our number,” Lord Roosevelt intoned, as if it were the merest Family Member who was getting married. Colin found himself wondering if Tiberius was insulted, or if he was too busy concentrating on remaining calm to care. “Lord Tiberius Cicero will welcome Alicia into his Family…”
He droned on for nearly ten minutes before finally halting and looking down towards the entrance. Colin followed his gaze to see four of the flower girls leading the way, followed by Alicia, wearing a white dress that shone like the sun. She was followed by two other bridesmaids, holding her train, both of whom looked nervous. Kathy had told him, back before the wedding, that being bridesmaids was a honour that was impossible to decline, but it involved long formal dances and routines that killed any of the enjoyment from the ceremony. She’d been a bridesmaid once and had hated it.
Alicia looked utterly spectacular in her dress, cut to show just a hint of cleavage, as she stepped up onto the dais. She was a tall willowy blonde, with her hair coming down in straight waves, and even without cosmetics she looked stunning. Tiberius was a lucky man, Colin decided, even if their wedding was probably doomed from the start. Kathy had also said that most family weddings barely lasted more than a decade, although a handful did remain strong until one of the partners died. If he hadn’t known that Cordova had been ordered to kill him in public, he might even have enjoyed himself.
“Do you, Alicia, take this man to be your lawfully wedded husband?” Lord Roosevelt demanded. Colin wondered, absently, how he must be feeling. His Clan was a becalmed hulk, taking fire from enemies as they gathered around, while Tiberius’s Clan still looked strong. “Do you choose to wed with him, to have his children, to bring honour and joy to his Family? Speak now, or forever hold your tongue.”
Colin rolled his eyes at the overdone nature of the ceremony. The wedding had, as he understood it, been formalised when the Imperial Register had given them its blessing. The entire ceremony wasn’t really needed for anything beyond showing off the Family’s wealth and, of course, introducing Alicia to the core of high society as the Cicero’s wife. It was, in some ways, a greater change in her status than anything that Colin himself had endured.
“I do,” she said, calmly. Her voice had been tuned perfectly for the gathering. It was firm, yet soft and warm. It echoed perfectly around the room. “I take him to my heart and soul.”
“Good,” Lord Roosevelt said. He leaned forward. If he saw any irony in his position, he didn’t show it. “You may join hands.”
Tiberius held out a hand. After a moment, Alicia took it. “I join thee now as man and wife,” Lord Roosevelt said, as he wrapped a silken cord around their wrists, symbolising their joining. It was a ritual that had endured for over a thousand years, used by most of the colony worlds. “You may now kiss the bride.”
They kissed. The room burst into cheers.
Colin felt his timepiece buzz. It was almost time. The crowd was moving forward now, advancing on the bride and groom to wish them the best of luck, but he could sense, now, that something wasn’t quite right. Something had changed in the room.
“No,” Cordova shouted, from behind him. Colin started, pushing Blondel away before she could react, as he turned to face the parting crowds. Cordova was moving forward incredibly fast, his sword already in his hand. It glinted madly in the light, Colin saw, feeling his mind reel. He wasn’t used to up close and personal combat. “You won’t…”
The sword flashed once, aimed at Colin’s chest…
And then all hell broke loose.
Chapter Thirty-Nine
Cordova brought the sword down hard… and it shattered on the body armour Colin had woven into his uniform, as planned. The blow still hurt and he found himself staggering backwards, barely aware of the press of the crowd as everyone struggled to get away from the murder scene, or to get towards it to find out what was going on. He dropped to one knee, one hand scrabbling for the pistol he wore on his belt as panic spread everywhere.
“Get down,” someone shouted. The alert signal had brought his bodyguards into the room from the adjoining rooms. It had been simple enough to have Marines inserted into the guest lists; after all, there were so many commoners on everyone’s invitation lists these days. Tiberius had invited everyone who was anyone, too many people for him to know and vet them all, and it had been easy to include a few unexpected guests. Even unarmed, Colin would have backed them against a legion of Household Troops, but they’d been able to slip weapons into the mansion. “Everyone get down on the ground and stay down…”
A burst of light, hot enough to singe Colin’s hair, burned past his ear as he hurled himself to the floor. A woman wearing a long flowing blue dress had opened fire on him with an energy weapon. A Marine shot her with a stunner, but she remained on her feet, weaving drunkenly towards Colin’s position. Her headscarf fell away, revealing a tattoo just above her left eye and confirming her identity. She was a pleasure slave. An armed pleasure slave.
If I get out of this alive, Colin thought, taking aim at her with his pistol, I will have every pleasure slave on Earth removed for their own safety.
The Marine fired again and this time the girl’s head disintegrated into a shower of blood. Colin heard the screams from the innocents lying on the floor, some of them trying to block the entire unpleasant scene from their eyes, others enjoying the chaos with the delight of people who knew that it would never touch them. So few of the Thousand Families had ever wanted for anything material, or even seen violence up close and personal, but now it had touched them right in the heart of their power. The old Empire was dead.
“Sir, stay down,” the Marine snapped. Ben, Colin recalled. His name was Ben, one of the Marines who’d served on the Lightning before the first mutinies. “The entire complex is under attack.”
Colin swore as the noise of fighting and screams started to impact on his ears. The entire reception room had disintegrated into a mass of people, lying on the floor and groaning, even as a pair of Marines escorted Cordova to a safer area on the other side of the room. No one would doubt, now, that he had tried to kill Colin, or that Tiberius had been involved. Only Tiberius could have cleared him to get such a weapon through the security sensors, more than enough rope to hang him and his entire Family with… assuming that they survived the next few hours. The sounds from outside the room didn’t sound encouraging.