Stars Rise

XXXIV. The Meeting of Liao Cytheria and Portia Nero

There was plenty of reason for Portia to be ecstatic about the morning's meeting.

She had been able to book a conference room in the main Constellation building, the one that had been constructed on solid ground and thus did not hang precariously from the sky thousands of feet up.

Arriving early, she placed down her briefcase at the head of the table. Wide windows showed a perfectly acceptable view of downtown's highrises, some landed and some floating. The cluster of buildings blocked the vista to the sea and the horizon, which could be seen from Portia's top floor office in the floating Eosphorus tower — but from here one could make out the details of the ornate city architecture, and she could never see why everyone wanted to go higher and higher when there was plenty to love close to the ground.

Thumping her fingers on her briefcase, she waited, and it occurred to her that the seat she had taken at the head of the table wouldn't be the head anymore if Liao Cytheria arrived next and sat at the other end of the table, because if that happened, then the other end of the table would become the head, and Exequi Cytheria would take firm control over the meeting.

Portia found herself wondering, could she remove the chair from the other end of the table? How petty would she look? The wall next to her was pure glass, completely transparent, and any of the Constellation employees walking by would see her being petty, trying to fit the tenth chair in on one side, so instead she stayed at her end of the table organizing and reorganizing her stack of files and presentation notes.

Indeed, Exequi Cythera came in next, and not alone either. Flanked by Exequi Tony Solari, as well as an assistant, she was followed by Exequi Ignatius Varian too.

Too bad Varian hadn't arrived thirty seconds faster, Portia could have directed the flappable older gentleman to take the end seat, solidifying Portia's lead role.

As it was, Tony Solari pulled out the seat before the elderly woman, and Liao Cytheria perched upon it. Shorter than Portia, she was a small woman with round cheeks that gave her face an amiable cast even when she was being severe. It seemed as if she were always smiling. Sitting like a queen, she tilted her head to the two other exequis, and only then did they sit.

Their deference increased Portia's nervousness. How she commanded that kind of respect, Portia would never, ever know. And her assistant stood in the corner, the window to his back. "A drink please, Rodolfo," said Cytheria's voice, strong yet polite in tone, and Rodolfo cast the spell for her, which seemed particularly lazy on her part. It was magic, after all. A squat glass materialized out of air on the table, and water welled up from the bottom, like a spring emerging from underground, until the glass was full and Cytheria drank.

As she was not a licensed magician, Portia didn't practice magic. It seemed Cytheria could have poured her own damn water. And yet, the thought occurred to her, perhaps it was Cytheria showing a kind of deference to Portia, who relied on her assistant for hydration and any and every other magical need. That thought made her jaw clench.

Maybe it was the key to the respect Cytheria commanded; she showed respect to others. Grinding her teeth, Portia tried not to let her displeasure show on her face. Her dentist was going to reprimand the damage she did to her molars today.

Seats around the table filled, just minutes after prima. Everyone a little late, the opposite of Sol, whose rate of travel was being measured moment by moment by the emergency team upstairs. On the window side, Gaia Solin's supporters lined up. Next to Tony Solari sat Exequi Solace, a man rumored to be on the brink of retiring. It wasn't entirely clear what he planned to do for the rest of eternity; the man was no older than Cytheria. If he could be persuaded to give up his job this very day, his daughter would take his position on the board, and little Claudia Solace would make an easy vote to earn. Across the table sat the three exequis Portia had invited: Sunyin Aura and two of her retinue. It was a carefully composed group for a fairly routine committee meeting overseeing the expansion of magical licensing.