"I'm going to kill her!" Luana exclaimed, realizing that she had a couple choices of who to execute first. Lia or Ama. Oh, the temptation to wrap her hands around either scrawny neck was strong as she looked at her summons from Sire Regus of the Empyrean Quorum. Apparently, he wanted to discuss "her Imperial Princess' sudden and ludicrous decision to seal with a notorious warrior well below her station".
Well, so much for her masterful plan of wheedling her way into Starbuck's heart, slowly but surely. Knowing the lieutenant, he'd be in a Viper on deep space probe by now. And he wouldn't be back until she was an old woman.
To top it off, everyone else now knew about their relationship. Most of these people knew Cassiopeia and liked her. Several had worked with her, or had visited her professionally. Suffice it to say, Lu had had several comments directed towards her since she had been revealed to be--oh, how did they say it?—like a feral felix in heat and on the prowl.
No, it hadn't been said to her face, but she had heard it all the same. She was the apparent reason that two such popular people who had seemed so happy together had broken up. Such were the heightened senses of a woman who was accustomed to hunting the hills of the planet Empyrean. She missed very little. Until now, she had thought of it as an advantage, especially when she could apply it to her career as a warrior.
But now, while most eyes looked at her accusatorily or just plain curiously, she wished she could be one of those people that could blissfully ignore the piercing stares. If only she could be immune to the judgments and ridicule of others. Yeah, you still have a fair amount of growing up to do, Lu. You have to work on that thick skin.
It hadn't helped that she had brought it on herself. After all, the whole seduction scene had been her idea. She had only meant to . . . get under Starbuck's skin. Yeah, that was it. Make him realize that their chemistry wasn't just the result of a life threatening situation on a planet some distance from their battlestar. Now, his relationship with Cassiopeia was off, Ama had officially announced their engagement, and the IFB was skulking around trying to get the latest exclusive on Starbuck's intensely newsworthy life of late.
Starbuck was going to hate her.
Oh sure, he was used to being in the spot light to a certain extent, and even reveled in it, but usually that was in the glory of his role as one of the fleet's most accomplished heroes and athletes. Not this time.
No, now it was all negative. First he was accused of throwing his triad games, and then certain officious Empyreans were all over him for daring to propose to one of their princesses. Of course, they were also dredging up the last Empyrean Ball where Starbuck had single-handedly sabotaged the sacred unity of the two Great Houses when he kissed the Lady Aurelia, thereby ending her engagement to Rogane, son of Sire Regus.
Sire Regus had been a gigantic pain in the astrum since the Imperial Empyreans had joined the fleet. At first, he had welcomed them with wide opens arms, ready to tuck them into the comfortable fold of his people. Together with Sire Albus, the head of the other Great House, they had spoken of embracing the Imperial Empyreans and honouring the age-old traditions of the Royal Family.
Ironically, that was when the princesses, Lia and Luana, had decided to abdicate in favour of becoming Colonial Warriors. They both wanted to contribute to their new society, not perpetuate archaic traditions that they saw as irrelevant on their new quest for Earth. Besides, being a princess on a planet of hunters was vastly different from holding court in the traditional Empyrean noble houses. They simply weren't interested in the pomp and ceremonial felgercarb.
After getting to know Starbuck, they wanted to be a part of the advancement of the human race, not the stagnation, which was how they saw the Empyreans. Especially, those aboard the Malocchio Freighter. By the Goddess Triquetra, Albus and Regus had felt that a woman's only place was in the home doing as she was told and having babies! The women were no better than servants.
Well, that wasn't really fair. No, the Empyrean women of the Colonies had made their own inroads after the sectarian nature of their lives had been infiltrated by the IFB. Young women, like Aurelia, had made their own plans deciding that they wanted a different life than that of their mothers. But generally, that meant moving off of the Empyrean Freighter, Malocchio.
Still, even with the obvious tide of change, Regus and Albus had fought tooth and nail to maintain the status quo, but they were outdone by the Imperial Necromancer. Ama held an important and impressive role in society and had thumbed her nose at the chauvinistic ideas of her ancient brethren. Even when she officially retired, she still commanded the people's respect, and held a seat on the Empyrean Quorum where she could keep a watchful eye on the devious heads of the noble houses. Sire Albus' mother, Siress Ama, the Empyrean Necromancer for the last generation, had supported her.
Luana banged her hand on her locker. She knew she was procrastinating as she stood there musing. Before all of this blew up in her face, she had to find her lover. As the old crone always said, what's done is done. Don't fash yourself about it. Besides, she could rake Ama and Lia over the coals later.
Somehow Luana knew there was some underlying motive behind Ama's announcement. As much as the necromancer liked people to think she was driven by her mystical arts, the woman always did things for a reason, no matter how convoluted it seemed to her goddaughter. No, there was more to this than Luana being involved in her first sexual relationship, and Ama disapproving of her methods or wanting to rush her into marriage. She would get to the bottom of it all. After facing Starbuck.