Sacrifice

Chapter 12 - The Outing

The morning of her engagement with the Crown Prince, she met him at the Imperial docks. As the Crown Prince led the way, Kalli eyed the boats around her. They were obviously the prides of the city. Many had sails; others had powerful motors. Kalli paused by the largest; its sides shone a soft platinum blue.

The Prince's grin was mischievous and not the least bit abashed. "Her name is Lola, and yes. She was a gift from the Emperor on my last birthday. Impressed?"

Kalli considered the boat with an appraising eye, trying her best to look serious. "Does it come with its own dukedom?"

The Prince patted the side of the boat fondly, and Kalli suppressed the urge to roll her eyes at the male affection.

"No," he answered, "but now that you suggest it, I could bring it before Council this fall."

Kalli shook her head. "I'll never understand a man's compulsion to race large metal objects. Not that, nor their requirement to attach silly female names to them."

The Prince chuckled. "Well someday I'll have to get you better acquainted with Lola, so that you may understand this 'compulsion.' For now though, we have different plans."

Gripping her elbow, he guided her to the end of a pier where a much smaller boat sat. To call the small sleek vessel a dingy would have been an insult.

Then Kalli looked closer. "Is that?"

She broke away from the Prince and crouched to inspect the boat. The black material had a soft sheen on it and was smooth to the touch. She looked up at the Prince who was standing there somewhat bemused.

"This is curarium isn't it?" Kalli asked.

The Prince nodded, confirming her suspicion. She turned back to the magnificent alloy.

"It was developed for the space program," she commented, forgetting to whom she was speaking. "It has a smaller weight-to-strength ratio than any other man-made material, a ridiculously high melting point and," Kalli pushed hard on the side of the boat which gave slightly but returned to its initial shape as soon as she removed her hand, "and it's malleable enough that space debris will have a hard time puncturing it."

"Well I'm impressed," drawled the Prince from above her.

Kalli stiffened. She'd forgotten she was with royalty. Standing, she turned to him with her most polite smile.

"I have an interest in astrophysics."

The Prince looked utterly bored. "You and every other young lady on this planet since I began my Princely Project."

His tone was one of such utter disdain that Kalli had to fight the urge to kick him. Just once, but really, really hard. Instead of giving in to the urge, she changed the subject.

"I didn't know that they made boats out of curarium."

"They don't," the Prince answered, "I had it custom made. You can feel every wave in this beauty."

Kalli wondered if the Prince was insane and if it would be polite to mention it. "Why would you want to feel that?"

The Prince gave her a devil-may-care smile. "It's more fun that way. Let me show you."

He stepped into the boat and offered Kalli his hand. She took it and stepped gingerly into the boat, sitting quickly before the little boat could dump her into the harbour. The Prince sat next to the small motor and pulled the cord to start it with the ease of much practice.

"There must be a dozen ways to start an engine these days, and you're still using a pull cord on this state-of-the-art boat?" Kalli asked.

"It has a lot of naval tradition behind it."