Hearing Tessa’s voice, Mae dared a glance back and saw the girl hugging Justin for her own goodbye. How is he like that? Mae wondered, watching him wrap up Tessa in his arms. So selfish and pleasure-driven most of the time, yet completely devoted to them. Because no matter how much he tried to hide it, she knew he was feeling emotional at the goodbyes as well. And although Mae didn’t know the exact details, she was willing to bet anything that Justin had set aside some pretty generous resources for Tessa too, in the event something happened to him.
“Everyone’s so grim for an event that’s supposed to usher in an era of peace between us and Arcadia,” Mae heard Rufus say.
She smiled as she found him standing behind her. He had an uncanny, stealthy way of moving that rivaled a praetorian. In the past week as the family’s regular bodyguard, she’d grown to like him more and more and was pleased with her decision.
“Hopefully it will,” she told Rufus. “I’m not sure I’d give the average Gemman good odds wandering around alone in Arcadia, but our group? No one on any side wants this to go badly. So long as we survive their customs, nothing’s going to happen to us. And I’m hoping that if it’s widely known that Justin’s out of the country, no one will come after these guys while we’re gone. No point in punishing the servitor if he’s not around to see it.”
Rufus nodded. “True, but I don’t plan on changing anything. I’ll keep up with the usual procedures and coordinate with your praetorian friend and his people.”
Something in the way he said “praetorian friend” amused her. “You aren’t a fan of Dag?”
“Oh, I’m sure he’s a fine soldier. I just don’t really bond with that showy, alpha male type. As long as he does his job and keeps us supplied with backup, I’ve got no problem with him.”
Mae laughed. “I don’t know, Rufus. There’s something about you that makes me think you might have been one of those showy alpha male types back in the day. Maybe you’re feeling competition from your youth.”
“Hmphf,” said Rufus, hiding a smile of his own. “That guy’s no competition at all. And who says I’m out of my youth?”
Despite his joking, he was right about one thing: the mood was certainly somber when the hired car came to pick up Justin and Mae. Both Cynthia and Tessa had tears in their eyes, and Mae couldn’t help but feel a little guilty for her role in the emotional farewell. It’s no more dangerous than anything else we do, she reminded herself. Probably less so. It’s just that none of them know what we do regularly. They’d probably cry every time if they knew we were facing supernatural hordes of beetles and other monstrosities.
The car took her and Justin to the senate, where they were led in through a back entrance. Here, they went separate ways. Because the Arcadian government could access the RUNA’s media on occasion, the female praetorians weren’t being publicized on the trip, lest the Gemman press pull up the military’s bios and report on their true identities.
“Good luck,” Mae told Justin. He and the other men were due at another press conference before going to the airport.
“Nothing to it,” he said. “I’m sure Lucian’ll do all the talking anyway.”
One aide led him away to a press room, while another took Mae to a private suite used by senators for breaks between sessions. There, she found the other praetorian women from their initial meeting, plus an assistant from Arcadian expert Atticus Marley’s office. The woman introduced herself as Olivia and led Mae to a curtained-off area with a hanging dress.
“You’re not expected to wear Arcadian fashion, thankfully,” Olivia explained. “But you will need to conform to all of their rules. We got you the least horrendous clothes we could find.”
But she didn’t really sound that convinced, and Mae could understand why. The dress, though cut to Mae’s measurements, didn’t offer much in the way of shape. It was made of a light, tan material that touched her feet. The neckline went as high as the top of her collarbone, and the sleeves were elbow length.
Olivia offered her a jacket and hat in the same color. “You don’t have to put these on until you leave the plane. And then make sure you aren’t ever seen in public without them. Short sleeves and uncovered hair are big taboos.”
“It’s mid-summer,” said Mae, holding up the jacket. It had long sleeves and looked like it would land just past her hip.
“We got the lightest, most ‘modest’ material we could,” said Olivia sympathetically. “If it helps, you probably won’t be outside very often. But you should leave the hat on even when you’re inside, and always keep your hair pulled up.”
“Right,” said Mae, remembering Atticus’s warnings. “My problematic blond hair. I don’t get it. Arcadia’s more advanced than other provinces, and all of them have hair dye. They should be able to fake recessive genes just like our plebeians do.”
“It’s not about the ability. It’s about custom.” Olivia settled the hat—a bell-shaped cloche that actually would’ve been pretty stylish in autumn—on Mae’s head to test the fit. “No hair dye. No makeup. There are even color restrictions. Something to do with that god of theirs and his rules on vanity. Your friend Dr. March could probably explain it better.”
“In fact,” a new voice said. “He’s on the stream right now.” Mae turned in amazement. “Val?”
Her friend, wearing a dress of similar cut but in dark brown, grinned at her. “Surprise.”
Olivia gave a nod of dismissal, and Mae hurried over to Val for a quick hug. “What are you doing here?”
“I got assigned to this a couple of days ago.” Val’s eyes narrowed thoughtfully. “The request came specifically from Senator Darling’s office, so I figured you were behind it.”
Mae shook her head wonderingly. “I had nothing to do with it. Lucian must’ve done it on his own.” For me, she realized. They’d needed a fifth female praetorian, and it wouldn’t have been that hard for Lucian to ask a few questions and find out who Mae was particularly close to. Of course, as much as Mae loved her friend’s company, she almost would’ve preferred Val was safely on bodyguard duty for the March family and not tied into this strange vision-driven mission that Mae had let herself get involved in.
“There you go again with his first name. I think it broke Dag’s heart that we get to go off adventuring without him, but hell, I’ll take undercover work in some backwoods country any day over monument duty. I thought we would’ve been pulled by now, but for all I know, the Scarlets’ll be in the capital through the election.” Val linked her arm through Mae’s and tugged her away. “Come on, let’s go watch the guys be manly and heroic for the cameras.”
They found the other praetorians watching the screen in the lounge part of the suite, where press coverage of the delegation’s sendoff was already in full swing. As Justin had predicted, most questions went to Lucian, many of them being variations of what she’d heard all week about the dangers of going into enemy territory. Lucian likewise reiterated what he’d said before about duty and how he didn’t care if it cost him in the election, so long as he aided his country. Whenever a question occasionally got tossed Justin’s way, he answered with equal finesse.