“Th—thank you, sir,” he stutters.

“Do you have anything you would like to say?”

On the screens, Michael’s eyes flick back and forth as his mind races to form words.

“I’ve, uh, worked pretty hard to get here, and I’ll do my best to pick up where Ambassador Lance left off.”

The longer Michael stays on stage, the tighter his fists clench. His face has gone pale, too. Before his hesitation drags on too long, Orcher sets one hand between Michael’s shoulders and shows him off to the crowd.

“Michael Rafting, ladies and gentlemen. Your newest ambassador.”

The applause doesn’t come immediately, and doesn’t seem as grand as it probably should have been. I think most people expected me to replace Father. Judging by their uncertain expressions, many are clearly uncomfortable with the decision.

Michael staggers back up to our row and shuffles through the legs again, then drops into his seat and stares ahead, his face blank. John taps his shoulder and whispers something before holding up his fist. Michael looks at it for a moment, then bumps it.

“It will be good for our Embassy to have a young ambassador again,” Orcher says.

“Speak for yourself!” a man shouts gruffly. He’s one of the other ambassadors.

A laugh rises from the audience. The cameras swing around and focus on a bald man who has thick lines in his forehead. He’s holding a can of Arb Ale, a drink imported from Narviid.

“You haven’t retired yet, Ravad?”

Ambassador Ravad takes a swig of the ale. “You wish I had, Orcher!”

“I’m sorry we had to deny your transfer request to Narviid, Simeon. It’s a shame.”

Chuckles rumble through the audience, but the remark doesn’t deter Ambassador Ravad, whose harsh laughter drowns out the chuckles.

“It is a shame!”

Orcher doesn’t entertain him further, and raises one hand to tell the crowd he’d like to move on. Most people settle, but Ravad and the other two ambassadors continue to snicker.

“I’ll hand the ceremony to Lieutenant Hofhen, who will officiate over the inductions.”

He motions up at Victoria. She swipes the display that’s projected in front of her and calls out the names of Recruits one-by-one, reciting their permanent assignments as well. The cameras zoom in and take each Recruit’s picture. For each group picture, many Recruits throw their arms around each other, acting as if they’ve been friends for years even though most of them met for the first time this week.

It makes my heart sink. The smiles and laughter and jokes all seem so natural. I think about us: me and Glacia and Ellin and John and Michael. They’re just people to me, barely more than strangers. John still makes me uncomfortable, and aside from talking to Glacia this morning, we haven’t grown closer.