I think, said Gabrielle, you should be careful what you say. Or should I inform Karl of how youve just spoken to me?

Cassanass nostrils flared, and she looked ready to make a retort, but instead swallowed deeply before replacing the robes on the chaise-longue with exaggerated carefulness. Gabrielle had the sense the old woman was barely resisting the urge to throw the clothes in her face.

All I want, continued Gabrielle, is to have a few minutes alone. She forced a smile. Its a big day, after all, and you know its hard enough, as things are, for me to get a little time to myself.

Cassanass mouth fluttered like an angry moth. Thijs and the rest will be arriving soon. If they discover Ive left you on your own for as much as a moment . . .

Edith Gabrielle used the old womans first name as she stepped closer to her just a few minutes, no more. You know youll hear them coming long before they reach my chambers.

Cassanas nodded and left the room without another word, her face still taut with anger.

Gabrielle felt her shoulders sag with relief as, closing her eyes, she subsided onto the chaise-longue. She could hear Cassanas busying herself on the other side of the door, straightening the bedclothes or perhaps putting things away.

Gabrielle then stood up and stripped off her nightdress, taking the opportunity to study herself naked in one of the floor-to-ceiling mirrors that surrounded her. Placing her hands on her belly, she began gently probing her soft flesh.

Was it obvious yet? she wondered. Perhaps just the tiniest curve to her belly was evident a sign of the scandalous new life growing within her.

Oh, Karl. She wondered how hed react once he knew . . . but when would be the right time to tell him? Would it change their plans, or even give him a reason to abandon her?

No, she told herself adamantly. Stop being ridiculous. It was foolish to think any such thing.

She then dressed herself in the robes that identified her as the Speaker-Elect for the Sacerdotal Demarchy. She checked herself again in the mirror, turning this way and that, knowing she had to play the part for as long as necessary. And yet nothing could have made her happier than the idea of tearing these ridiculous robes off and burning them.

Im only a girl, she reflected, for her twenty-first birthday was less than three days away. And too young to be a murderer, however much those she would soon help to kill deserved their fate.

She reached up to touch her scalp, feeling the faint crenellations and bumps of the machine-head hardware beneath her skin. Her long and lustrous hair hid most of the visible traces of the technology, except where faint lines could still be seen on her exposed temples. Unless people looked very closely, they might never guess, Karl had reassured her.

Gabrielle heard distant voices echoing beyond her chambers, coming closer.