Anne T.

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When she’d come out, some of Elena’s most vocal supporters had been her Riage uncles and cousins. To them, transitioning was a clean and polite way to remove herself from contention for the distillery throne. Her grandfather was brought back into the family after decades to take the chair, so, her cousins thought, why wouldn’t he again buck tradition and pass it to his Barronburrow grandson? Then, she’d become a girl and their world was just again, the family business wasn’t being sold out from under them to etleans.

Having such a public base of support had given Elena a lot of confidence, even as she knew their reasons. The biggest downside was that their support had been very public. They did interviews, which meant she had to do interviews, which meant that she had to do even more interviews. A lot of the newspapers had dug deep into her personal life, and she hadn’t known where the line was on what should stay private. Her story had snowballed. Everyone who’d ever met her had something to say and everyone in Entach had wanted to hear it. Some papers pushed her as the new “girl-king of fashion” when she’d been experimenting with dresses. Others speculated she was forced to transition as a Riage powerplay. More printed lurid accounts of her non-existant love life. The Mafaldia Herald still ran an opinion piece about her once a month.

All of this meant that she was whisked around the party in a whirlwind, one group never giving her more than a few sentences before someone new stepped up to speak to her.

She kissed a hundred cheeks and given her best limp handshakes to a hundred more, while keeping one arm wrapped firm around Kate, who stodgily followed behind. She didn’t have to talk to many other guests, as Elena kept the attention on herself, but when someone did speak to Kate, it was like watching them try not to fall off a ship in a storm. For all the confidence she’d shown at the dressmakers shop, having a reporter try to get in her face and write down everything she said was just too much. She kept reaching for her jacket, even though it wasn’t there, and the reporters had to repeat all of their questions several times before she’d answer. Nothing could make up for good public appearances training.

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“Elena Octonenses Barronburrow Riage, and her companion Katarina Brewer,” announced the slick, short man who’d preceded them into the hall. He bowed slightly as Elena and Kate walked by and said, much quieter, “The second floor has a wider array of drinks and a selection of finger foods, and is accessible to far fewer guests. The third floor will host tonight’s dinner. We’ll be sure to inform your grandfather of your presence and make the necessary accommodations, Miss Riage.” Already, several members of the staff were running for back doors and servants stairs to inform the whole event of her presence.

Once the crier had stepped back into the shadowy entryway, Kate said, “It’s Katherine, not Katarina.” Elena had been the one to give their names at the door, while Kate was busy arguing with the staffer who insisted on taking her coat, so she’d guessed at her full forename.

“Sorry, I just assumed.” Most of the room had turned to watch them make their entrance. “To be fair, my name is Riage Barronburrow, not Barronburrow Riage,” but this was the Riage distillery’s anniversary gala, so of course they’d ignore the proper name order. “He must know that, but still chose to favor my grandfather’s name over my mother’s”

“Is that some kind of reach around insult?”

“Maybe, but probably not. The Riage family never liked my grandfather marrying an Etlean woman, not when we’re so matrilineal. There was a lot of tension, some big arguments. Essentially, everybody ignored the other family for decades.”

“But now your granddad runs the whole shebang.”

“He was named the successor after my uncle Austinian ran for Grand Councilor. My mom tells me that their father was looking for any excuse to cut Austinian out of the running.”

“Why’s that?”

“He’s an idiot, the only reason he even won his seat on the council was that his opponent was from Anasyl. It was a year after the war ended.” She looked at Kate, realizing too late that she was also lilanic.

“Don’t give me that look, I’m not even from there. My great-grandparents were, but I’m Harduzi. They invaded us first, remember.” The empire had been sending settlers south into Harduza for nearly a century. They stuck to the mountains in the central region of the country, where anything they mined was sent back north. Anasyl hadn’t even actually invaded Entach, just their biggest trade partner, Karonil. Their navy had intervened after Entach merchant vessels had been taken by the Anasyl fleet, and then everyone had made a big show out of supporting their sailors.