“I never knew civil unrest made you amorous,” said Sikandar as his wife slid off him and settled onto the bed panting. Their marriage was content and joyful, but tonight his wife transformed into a whirlwind of desire.
Smirking, Sunshine untied the ribbon holding her hair away from her face. Her shimmering, pale hair cascaded around her shoulders, and her skin glistened from exertion. He thought her the most beautiful thing he’d ever seen at that moment. Though they were both sweaty, he pulled her next to him and she snuggled her head into the pocket of his shoulder.
“There are going to be a lot of changes in the Council,” she said. “Space Woman Black is going back to just Space Woman Butterscotch.”
Sikandar snorted, “Butterscotch?”
“The orange shades tend toward food, butterscotch, pumpkin, papaya. Though in the Space Woman’s case, few people laugh at her.”
“I’ll keep that in mind. Maybe Black’s resignation will placate the Wild after her actions at the Legate’s house. Have they picked their representative?”
“Cobalt did almost as much damage to them as Black, and Bandile was a close friend.”
“Before she tried to kill her.”
“I actually think Bandile was trying to avoid that. She came inside hoping to talk Cobalt out of the girl. Didn’t work out that way.”
“No,” admitted Sikandar.
“To answer your question, no the Wild haven’t told us who their representative will be. Personally, I hope it isn’t Zawadi, but if it is, we’ll deal with it.” A moment’s thought and she added, “Might be better that way.”
“Better to have her plotting against us on the council than out of sight.”
“Exactly,” she said, walking her fingers around his chest, “and we decided to add a male to the council.”
Sikandar raised an eyebrow and thought, big changes indeed. “Cynwrig, of course. The hero of the hour.”
“No. Pink is staying Head Diplomat, and the two of them will spend a lot of time off planet in the near future. The decision will be the new High’s.”
His wife was being unusually coy. The High didn’t change very often, and he wasn’t privy to the process, but knew it was a big deal. The new one faced new realities including picking a man for the council.
Then he had an awful thought. “Do you think she’ll ask me?”
“No, love, she won’t pick you. That would be an exceedingly bad political decision.” Now he really was confused. How could he be a bad political choice?
Sunshine continued, “When a woman becomes the High, she—in a very real sense—ceases to be whoever she was before. When I have a ball at the Med-Center, you are my escort, but when the High attends, her husband doesn’t. He doesn’t exist to the public. Same for every other public event. The High is…well, the High.”
That fit with his working theory that the High was an amalgamation of all the women on Home. An icon or symbol. But before he could delve deeper into the mythos around the High, his wife had another bombshell.
“As for who she will invite…I’m confident it will be Jon Stevens.”
“The Wild Man? The husband of the woman in jail for assaulting the child?”
“Yes, it gives the Wild another place on the council to prove we are serious. I believe you told me he brought you the warning. Which means he has the good of all at heart.”
Of course she made that leap, Sikandar thought. She’s so damn good at this stuff. But she wasn’t done.
“As for his wife, the Legate intervened on her behalf and she’ll be deployed for a couple of years.”
“It is a day for surprises, and you are right about Jon, but how can you be so sure what the new High will do?”
She said nothing, like she was waiting for him to figure something out. As he did and his heart against her ear began to thump, she said, “Because I know her mind better than anyone else, love.”
“It’s you.”
“Yes, though that is a secret until the ceremony next week.”
