Everything on Vemion was soft, and it made Asher want to scowl. They didn\u2019t have time to waste on VMC12, and he dreaded to think how the three days spent away from work would put him behind schedule. Was Remy taking care of the air filtration issue? What about the infestation of those damned lizkats?<\/p>\n
His fingers clenched the teacup in his hand hard enough that he feared he\u2019d break the delicate porcelain. He set the cup down silently and checked his watch. This meeting was already five minutes late.<\/p>\n
Did the matchmaker treat everyone like this? Was it some kind of test? He\u2019d flown halfway across the system because she\u2019d found viable brides for six of his cousins. Unfortunately, she refused to take initial meetings over video link, so he\u2019d been forced to come to Vemion.<\/p>\n
He yanked his comm out of his pocket and made a note to ask Remy about repairs to the water treatment building. Yes, he\u2019d left a list for her, and his sister was more than capable of following instructions, but Asher hadn\u2019t slept the night before, his mind reeling with everything that could go wrong while he was away.<\/p>\n
Truthfully, he hadn\u2019t had an uninterrupted night of sleep since his first week on VMC12, when Lady Nova left him in charge of the place while she went to act as governor for another colony.<\/p>\n
It would be years, maybe a decade or more, until VMC12 had enough terraformed land to need a governor or any ruling council. And if Asher played it right, that would be him.<\/p>\n
Lord-Governor Asher had a nice ring to it.<\/p>\n
A title he\u2019d earned, rather than the one that had been handed to him at birth. Land of his own to rule. People to govern.<\/p>\n
He clutched the comm tight and made another note and cursed himself for this waste of time. Lady Nova had ideas<\/em> about marriage and family. She insisted that a young man should seek a bride to prove he was settled and capable of taking on more responsibility. With all three of her sons paired off, her eyes had turned to another project, and it was Asher who was right there.<\/p>\n He didn\u2019t have time to woo a woman. The women on VMC12 were just a busy as he was, and few of them were of the same rank. Wasting his time speaking with the matchmaker would save him time later, and it was the only reason he hadn\u2019t walked out yet.<\/p>\n The silk curtain at the back of the room fluttered and then was swept aside by a middle-aged woman with brown skin, dark hair, and striking blue eyes. She wore a diaphanous lavender robe cinched at the waist with a wide green belt inlaid with gold thread. She wouldn\u2019t have been out of place in the king\u2019s court.<\/p>\n \u201cLord Asher, forgive me for the delay.\u201d She glided across the room and took a seat on the couch on the opposite side of the low table from him. \u201cI had to deal with a pressing matter. Thank you for your patience and agreeing to meet in my office. I am Shade.\u201d<\/p>\n Asher kept his face calm. He even managed a neutral smile. This woman had something he wanted and he couldn\u2019t castigate her for making him wait an extra ten minutes on top of the day long flight to get here. \u201cOf course, I\u2019m glad you had an opening for me.\u201d<\/p>\n Shade\u2019s eyes flicked up and down, taking him in, then they went distant for a moment, and she shook her head just enough to jostle the decorative pins in her hair. \u201cInteresting,\u201d she murmured, so low that he didn\u2019t think he was meant to hear it. Then she poured her own cup of tea and sipped. \u201cYour inquiry said you\u2019re looking for a wife.\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cYes, I am.\u201d Why else would he visit a matchmaker? \u201cI require a poised lady who is willing to take up residence on VMC12 once it\u2019s open to settlers. It would be acceptable if she prefers to maintain separate households until then, but I require marriage within the year and will need her to visit from time to time. She needs to be someone who can entertain herself. I\u2019m a busy man and I\u2019m building a planet, I don\u2019t have time for a wi\u2014\u201d He snapped his mouth shut and took a deep breath before speaking again. \u201cI don\u2019t have time for distractions.\u201d<\/p>\n Shade didn\u2019t seem to mind that his requirements lacked romance. She took another sip of tea before putting her cup down. \u201cIt sounds to me like you don\u2019t much want a wife at all.\u201d<\/p>\n True. All too true. But he wasn\u2019t about to admit that. \u201cI\u2019m thirty-two years old and establishing myself. It\u2019s time.\u201d He tried to ignore that Lady Nova had expressed that exact sentiment to him once. But she was right.<\/p>\n \u201cDo you wish for a sexual relationship with this wife of yours?\u201d Shade asked, \u201cor is this merely a convenient arrangement?\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cExcuse me?\u201d It wasn\u2019t any business of hers what kind of arrangement he had.<\/p>\n Shade sighed. \u201cLord Asher, you don\u2019t want a wife, you want a convenient woman to trot out at dinner parties. There are plenty of women who would be content with such an arrangement, but not all of them are looking for carnal marriages. If you want me to find the perfect woman for you\u2014\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cAn adequate one will do,\u201d he interrupted, unable to stop himself.<\/p>\n \u201cI take pride in my work, your lordship, adequate will not do for me.<\/em>\u201d Shade leaned back and took him in again. \u201cI have some skill in locating mates, I could look for yours.\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cAbsolutely not.\u201d Asher refused to go down that road. Fated mates felt like something out of a children\u2019s story, even if he\u2019d met plenty of mated couples. He didn\u2019t need some divine force of the universe pointing out the perfect person for him. He feared he\u2019d only be a disappointment to such a woman. He couldn\u2019t run his colony and be the dragon his mate needed, not unless the universe had designated a convenient woman to trot out at dinner parties<\/em>, as Shade had put it.<\/p>\n If it upset Shade to hear it, she didn\u2019t say. \u201cVery well. Our subsequent meetings can be done over comms. I will do some research and contact you about our next steps. If all goes well, by next week you\u2019ll meet the first candidate. Is that satisfactory?\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cI\u2019ll need her to come to VMC12, I can\u2019t waste time travelling back and forth from Vemion.\u201d Any woman unwilling to endure that small inconvenience would never make it as his wife.<\/p>\n Shade nodded. \u201cThat\u2019s acceptable.\u201d Then she paused. \u201cAnd about the nature of your relationship? I will need to know.\u201d<\/p>\n Asher couldn\u2019t remember the last time he\u2019d gone to bed with a woman. He\u2019d been so busy for the past two years that most nights he collapsed exhausted into bed to suffer fitful sleep. It would be unfair to inflict that on a wife. \u201cI have no need for love and I would never force someone to endure my attentions.\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cVery well, your lordship. I shall find you an adequate<\/em> wife. Have a nice day.\u201d<\/p>\n Outside, the air was clear and the sun shone brightly. Asher had to pause in a small park, tipping his head back and breathing deep. The air on VMC12 had to be treated to remove particulate matter kicked up by the terraformers and it never smelled fresh. He only remembered what he was missing out on when he visited home.<\/p>\n All the more reason to stay away.<\/p>\n He\u2019d arrived late last night and dumped his things at his brother Knox\u2019s townhouse in the city. Asher was in no hurry to get back, even though delay might make him miss the transport back to the colony. And if he missed that, he\u2019d be stuck here for another week until the next supply ship went out.<\/p>\n There\u2019d be no avoiding the horde then.<\/p>\n Asher loved his family. He worked with his sister Remy every day. He kept in contact with his fellow triplets, Flint and Knox, most weeks. But that wasn\u2019t all. He had three other siblings and two well-meaning but interfering parents. Living on the other side of the system was an act of self-preservation as much as ambition. Luckily, everyone except Flint and Knox was spending time at the summer palace and would have no idea he\u2019d been on Vemion until he was back on the colony.<\/p>\n Knox\u2019s townhouse was in the ugly New Modern style that was sweeping through the city. It was all about the marriage of harsh lines and lush curves and always looked to Asher like something had gone very wrong in the planning. All the windows looked a bit like mushrooms, with perfectly square bottom frames that were hooded with arched glass on the top. And the style wasn\u2019t restricted to the architecture, no, it was painted in the same clash of color and shape.<\/p>\n It made the utilitarian compound on VMC12 seem calm and inviting rather than sterile.<\/p>\n The front door flung open and Knox and Flint scrambled out, each of his brothers engulfing him in a hug strong enough to knock the air out of his chest. \u201cSneaking here in the middle of the night!\u201d Knox slapped him on the back. \u201cWho raised you?\u201d<\/p>\n Asher glared at his brother and flicked invisible dirt off of his collar. His brothers were dressed as if they\u2019d just come from the sparring ring, and Flint had a smudge of dirt on his cheek. If it weren\u2019t for the clothes and for Knox\u2019s extra muscles, they were identical. It had driven their tutors to madness and led to more than one prank in their Academy days.<\/p>\n Asher had missed his brothers. \u201cI couldn\u2019t change the transport schedule,\u201d he said, though it wasn\u2019t exactly true. Asher could<\/em> have booked a private flight, but he didn\u2019t see the point in the extra expense when every credit counted.<\/p>\n Flint flung an arm around his shoulders and practically dragged him inside. \u201cOf course, of course. You\u2019re far too responsible for your own good. Now, come on, we\u2019re drinking the expensive stuff. You know Knox is good for it.\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cNot the Elysian Whiskey!\u201d Knox yelled from behind them. \u201cThere are only four bottles of that in the galaxy and I\u2019m savoring it.\u201d<\/p>\n Knox was a collector of\u2026 everything, as far as Asher could tell. As long as it was costly and rare, he wanted it. It gave his townhome a museum-like feel to see everything on display, but Asher was glad his brother had a hobby. And, unlike Flint\u2019s penchant for fast flying and sleek space ships, Knox\u2019s was, at least, safe.<\/p>\n The dining room was piled high with enough food for a village, most of Asher\u2019s favorites. The farms on VMC12 weren\u2019t yet producing anything but the hardiest vegetables, and while they imported a lot of food from Vemion, it tasted better fresh.<\/p>\n \u201cTell us about your bride,\u201d Flint demanded between bites of some sort of meat slathered in sauce. \u201cYou know that just about every lady we know would break under Lady Nova\u2019s gaze.\u201d He shuddered at the mention of Asher\u2019s boss.<\/p>\n Asher threw a breadstick at him. \u201cThe matchmaker is doing research, I\u2019m not engaged yet.\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cBut why would you want<\/em> to be?\u201d Knox asked. His feet were propped on the table with his hands behind his head. \u201cYou\u2019ll make her miserable.\u201d<\/p>\n Flint chucked the breadstick at Knox. \u201cDon\u2019t be mean to Ash.\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cLady Nova is hardly at the colony to approve, and I don\u2019t want to move my wife\u2014\u201d He had to pause for a second after saying that, it was too strange to contemplate. But he continued, \u201c\u2014to suffer in a place not ready for society. Once I\u2019m Lord-Governor, she can join me there on a permanent basis.\u201d<\/p>\n His brothers made sarcastic, awed noises at his ambitions. Asher rolled his eyes.<\/p>\n \u201cName one thing you even like about that place,\u201d Knox demanded.<\/p>\n \u201cRemy\u2019s there.\u201d Easy enough. Remy was his youngest sister and his second youngest sibling. She\u2019d been the one he was closest to outside of Flint and Knox and there was no one he could count on more than her.<\/p>\n \u201cRemy could be anywhere,\u201d said Flint. \u201cWhat about something that\u2019s not a person you literally share blood with?\u201d<\/p>\n If he said anything, it would lead to an argument. It always did. Flint and Knox, their parents, and the rest of their siblings\u2014except for Remy\u2014were convinced that he was wasting his life on a barren rock past the edge of civilization. He wasn\u2019t making discoveries, he wasn\u2019t hoarding jewels, he wasn\u2019t doing anything that a properly programmed robot couldn\u2019t do.<\/p>\n And he wasn\u2019t going to think about how the same could be said about his requirements for a wife.<\/p>\n \u201cCan we enjoy dinner before I head to port?\u201d he asked. This time when he reached for a breadstick, he ate it.<\/p>\n \u201cPort?\u201d Knox practically fell out of his seat. \u201cYou just got here! Tell me you\u2019ll stay the night.\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cSorry, I can\u2019t. I was only able to stay the full day because the ship had routine safety maintenance. It leaves this evening. I need to return to VMC12 before Remy sends out bounty hunters to drag me back.\u201d Neither of his brothers smiled at that.<\/p>\n \u201cYou never call it home,\u201d Flint murmured.<\/p>\n \u201cWhat?\u201d His brother was talking nonsense.<\/p>\n But Knox agreed with him. \u201cYou\u2019ve lived in that place for more than two years now, and I\u2019ve never heard you call it home. You don\u2019t want to be there.\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cIt\u2019s where I\u2019m needed.\u201d And it was where years of hard work would finally pay off. One day he\u2019d be governor and prove to everyone that he was more than a spoiled younger son.<\/p>\n Flint opened his mouth, but closed it when Knox shook his head. That silent communication was something the three of them had done to others their entire lives, and now these two were doing it to him. Asher tried not to feel left out.<\/p>\n But after that, dinner conversation was stilted, and when he left for the port, neither of his brothers offered to give him a ride. Which was fine. Asher didn\u2019t need to bother them.<\/p>\n And as soon as he got home<\/em> on VMC12, everything would be back to normal.<\/p>\n For some reason that didn\u2019t make him feel any better.<\/p>\n \u00a0<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_themeisle_gutenberg_block_has_review":false,"footnotes":"","tve_updated_post":"","tve_custom_css":"","tve_user_custom_css":"","tve_globals":{},"tcb2_ready":1,"tcb_editor_enabled":0,"tve_landing_page":"","_tve_header":"","_tve_footer":""},"categories":[86],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-4799","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-free","clearfix"],"aioseo_notices":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/katerudolph.net\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/4799","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/katerudolph.net\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/katerudolph.net\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/katerudolph.net\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/katerudolph.net\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=4799"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/katerudolph.net\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/4799\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/katerudolph.net\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=4799"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/katerudolph.net\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=4799"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/katerudolph.net\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=4799"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}