5 Gabriela Tries It On--And Succeeds

'This—cannot—be—happening!'

Two weeks had passed since Gianna's Day; Gabriela had just walked into the offices of the Debens Falcon to receive a nasty shock.

'What do you mean Terry di Jantsa is going to Coelis?' she hissed. 'That idiot! How'd she even get in—? Wait, don't answer that; this is ridiculous, it's impossible.'

The whole office was listening; Clara had the cheek to say—

'Well, I know, but these things sometimes happen. Maybe a fairy godmother—'

'Don't you read?' Gabriela groaned. 'There haven't been any fairy godmothers in the entire subcontinent for a hundred and twenty years—not since Iones fell! What would a fairy godmother want to do with Terry di Jantsa, anyway... For God's sake, where's Carlo? I think I need some brandy.'

Luckily for Clara, who looked like she was getting weepy again, Carlo appeared out of this office. He looked grim.

'Don't tell me this rubbish is true,' Gabriela shrieked. 'Terry di Jantsa going to Coelis?'

'Yes, it's true.'

Gabriela was flabbergasted. 'But how—'

'Don't ask me, I only found out this morning,' he snapped. 'That Lady Foltsini woman wrote back to her and it's all arranged, apparently. It's the strangest thing. I—I don't know how Terry did it.'

He also looked like he might need some brandy.

Meanwhile, Gabriela seethed away as the attention dissipated and everyone returned to work—everyone except her. She couldn't believe this.

Gab, calm down. Focus. Remember, every situation is an opportunity.

However much she hated the idea, however much it hurt her soul, she knew what she had to do. She had no choice.

Gabriela needed to find Terry—now. If going to Coelis was on the table, she was not going to let that slip away.

~

Terry sat in her usual spot, snuggled into a nook in the old city wall, looking down on the harbour.

Tourists passed her by, walking along the battlements. It was high tide and a particularly busy day down in the harbour: sailing boats slipping in with the morning catch and shining catamarans passing them by, headed out to cruise around the other islands beyond Santa Gianna; there were enormous clippers coming in from the mainland—ferries, too, full of tourists.

She'd spent so many hours here, longing to sail away on one of them; now, through nothing but her own ingenuity, she actually was leaving Santa Gianna. She was getting her very own chariot, courtesy of the Grand Merview, which rose majestically on the other side of the harbour.

But more than that—she was going to Coelis.

As long as she didn't mess up everything, that is. Her name was still going to be Teresa, but her surname was no longer Di Jantsa, but Di Lampedusa—an aristocratic house on the mainland, Lady Foltsini told her. That was the difficult bit; Terry hadn't the foggiest idea how to be an aristocrat. Surely, they'd see through her in an instant.

And as for Lady Foltsini herself—it had taken Terry a week to track her down, and a week for her to reply to Terry's letter. Terry only got the answer back yesterday—that she agreed to the proposed terms, that it would all be arranged.

How could she have gotten this lucky? It was odd that Lady Foltsini was so desperate.

Terry heard footsteps behind her. Assuming it was just more tourists, she didn't budge.

'Ahem—Terry?'

She spun around. It was Gabriela, wearing a painful, simpering smile.

'What is it?' said Terry, more harshly than she usually would.

Gabriela delicately made her way across to where Terry was sitting; navigating away from some bird droppings, she gingerly sat down beside her.

'So,' Gabriela said, with that same smile. 'I was just—um—thinking about you going to Coelis.'

'Yes?'

'Well, I was just thinking... you haven't had a lot of experience. Maybe it would be better if someone more senior accompanied you.'

Terry let that sink in. 'So—what you're basically saying is that I'm not capable of handling this by myself, so you should come along to boss me around like you do here.'

When Gabriela took a second too long to answer, Terry didn't let her answer at all.

'You can forget it—I'm not going to let you ruin this for me, too. Why the hell should I bring you? You're a bitch! This is my opportunity—you can forget it!'

'And let you make a balls of it?' Gabriela exploded. 'You're incompetent, you'll ruin everything on the first day—you'll embarrass yourself and you'll embarrass the Falcon—you need me there.'

'You think that's going to convince me? If I'm so incompetent, why I am I going to Coelis, and you're not?'

'I'll tell you why—sheer dumb luck!'

They sat there, glaring at each other.

'No,' Terry eventually said. 'No, I'm not bringing you with me to Coelis. I couldn't if I wanted to, and I don't want to.'

Gabriela got up, huffing, and stalked away down the battlements. She didn't get far, though, before she turned around, her expression softening.

'Please,' she called over to Terry. 'Just do this one thing for me.'

Terry said nothing.

'Please, I'll do anything. Terry, please, I'm begging you—let me come.'

And, deep down, in her heart of hearts, Terry gave in.