C: Publicity

Rafaela tried not to look scared as they entered the crowded room. It wasn't that she'd never entered a crowded environment before, but the number of people and devices that were watching were still entirely beyond her experience.

She was now a Princess of Eks Corp, for the duration of the contract that she'd just signed. At the moment she was feeling guilty about the occasions she'd watched streams where any of the Corporate Royals attended some event or another. They had always appeared calm, even bored, but she felt like a target or prey animal with everyone watching her.

Brendan's hand stopped being something else to worry about and became a reliable support against the small of her back as the two of them stepped upward onto the small dais. She gulped as the eyes of both people and devices followed their progress intently. To distract herself from all of the eyes, she focused on Brendan as he moved forward to stand beside her. He looked calmer than he had when they'd been alone together, and she blinked at him in surprise.

He smiled at her, and then faced the crowd and announced clearly, "Entrant Cinderella won the race I designed by a clear margin, and has now accepted the contract to become my bride."

Rafaela's fingers tightened as she frowned at the name, but quickly realized that she hadn't ever told him that she didn't like it. Before she could protest, another voice called out questioningly, "Is her entry actually legal? SkyWater registered more entrants than any other corporation, despite being one of the smallest corporations to enter!"

Brendan's smile sharpened as he assured the person, and the public, "There was never any limit on the number of candidates that could be sponsored, and the engagement contract doesn't contain any corporate benefits or entitlements for the sponsoring corporation. It's a family contract, unrelated to the race regulations except by who was eligible to sign it."

"Many of the major corporations were limited by the number of young women of the appropriate age within their families," a cold, but too familiar, voice added.

Rafaela stiffened in shock when her eyes located her stepmother, not because her eldest stepsister stood at her side, but because of the young man who stood with them. His smile widened as her eyes met his. She'd met him on the registration station, where he'd laughed at her stepsisters, and threatened her with his obscure words and questions.

He currently held Doris' hand affectionately, and she appeared to cling to him proudly. His gaze held hers for too long, and her stepmother's gesture went unnoticed for a moment, but her eyes finally slid to the fingers that tapped, 'We must speak privately,' in a repetitive fashion.

Rafaela flinched, and Elektra smiled a little as she stopped her fingers movements. The glance they exchanged carried the unspoken warning, 'I know that you've seen and understood.'

Brendan had replied calmly, but Rafaela missed the words, and other questions were now being tossed in their direction. Some of them were about the race, and the tricks of navigation that had been used. Rafaela attempted to ignore the fact that her family were standing calmly with someone that she regarded as a possible enemy, and answer calmly. But as she moved her attention outward, she realized that they were all currently surrounded by Eks Corp Security, who stood in pairs at the edges of the large compartment.

When she froze as she identified them, Brendan stepped forward after giving her a squeeze. Distracted by the far too familiar feeling of the reassuring contact, it took her a bit to realize that he was giving her time. He explained to their audience the advantages of the slingshot maneuvers, and the other navigational opportunities that had been available to the entrants, with a calm enthusiasm that attracted their attention to him.

Of course, he'd not only designed the race but had actually run it himself, so his comments were more detailed than the people who'd been asking seemed to have been expecting. She argued silently with herself while he talked. She understood that just because one set of Eks Corp Security officers had gone against what their Prince wanted, it didn't mean that the rest of them were involved, but her fears and logic weren't in agreement.

When the questions began to target her again, she made an effort to answer. She caught one about the name she'd registered under, and explained quickly, "I was raised in the Cinder Sector, and 'ella' means dear within my family."

Even though her cheeks turned pink and her stepmother's eyes flashed, she hoped that most people would regard the name as a reference of pride, instead of the insult that her stepsisters had used it as. The person who'd asked was one of those who was actually present rather than one of those communicating through devices, and she thought that they looked a bit disappointed by her response, but she wasn't sure what to add.

She wasn't the only one who startled when Brendan added his own comment, "We Centralites tend to disparage those from the outer Sectors, as though we could survive without them, but a lot of us also take pride in the station or planet where we reside."

One of the other entrants who'd made it to the announcement station in time to attend, pushed forward and proclaimed, "We take pride in our corporations and our genetics!"

Rafaela gazed down at the young woman in confusion, and replied questioningly, "I'm quite proud of SkyWater and my parents?"

Brendan nodded as he agreed soberly, "It's true, I'm also quite proud of Eks Corp and my parents' work. I was born with the genes which will make me the next King, so perhaps pride in our personal genetics is also natural."

The entrant who'd made the proclamation looked taken aback by both of their quick agreements. Rafaela wasn't sure what she'd been expecting, but she made an angry gesture when someone else pushed forward to speak in her place, and glared up at Rafaela as though it were her fault. Brendan shook his head, murmured something nearly inaudibly, and another man smiled and raised his thumb toward the pair on the dais, before stepping forward toward the entrant.

Rafaela's eyes scanned the room again. But other than the disturbing presence of the Eks Corp Security officers around the edge, and the disturbing presence of her stepmother and eldest stepsister beside the rude punk she'd met on a different station, it was just a sea of unknown faces and devices to her.

She almost gasped when she realized that the man whom Brendan had been so quietly communicating with was actually the eldest Prince of Eks Corp. His bearing was very much like another security officer's, and he wasn't drawing any other attention that she could see. The young woman who was currently the target of his conversation looked flattered and nervous as he spoke.

Meanwhile, Brendan held everyone's attention again as he gave another short speech of thanks toward all the girls who'd entered his race, and the corporations who'd sponsored them. Rafaela's gaze wasn't the only one that turned back toward the entrant who'd pushed forward to proclaim that Centralites took pride in their corporations and their genetics, but the eldest Prince had already stepped back toward the dais, and no one seemed to focus on him.

The girl's professional smile startled Rafaela. Her eyes moved back to Doris, and discovered that her stepsister also looked professionally cool, unlike her usual often-grumpy face at home. She pasted the neutral smile she'd used a lot since the former Rians had transferred to SkyWater station onto her own face, and wondered nervously if the wrong person had actually won.

She and Brendan stayed on the dais for only about half an hour, and she couldn't hide her relief when he guided her toward the doorway they'd entered from, instead of out into the crowd, when they stepped down.

"We don't have to socialize?" she whispered when they reached the hallway.

"Not unless you want to," he assured her quietly.

She thought of the silent message carried by Elektra's fingers and immediately replied, "I don't want to!"

He laughed.