The Line of the Sol Empress

Chapter 25.5

[Hope]

Hope drug herself out of bed. She sniffed, straining to pull air through clogged sinuses. Besides the heavy weight of responsibility, the high pollen concentrations on this world had taken their toll.

"Good morning, Hope!" Sai said over the room com. "How did you sleep?"

"Not very well, Sai." She sniffed again. "I'm stuffed up. Do you have anything to relieve my sinuses?"

"I can fabricate a decongestant and allergy suppression drug in the med bay. Shall I do so?"

A sudden sneeze grabbed Hope, causing her to bend over. "Yes, please."

Sai said, "A number of people have gathered outside the ship, Hope."

"Show me."

A visual image appeared on the wall view screen. Sai's term of a number of people seemed an understatement. The crowd, some standing and some sitting on the grass in the clearing, rippled in casual waiting activity like a meadow in a breeze. These were the common people of this world, wearing comfortable clothes of natural fibers.

And expecting miracles from me.

"It looks like half the city is here." Hope muttered.

Sai replied. "I would estimate only thirty-six percent, Hope."

A gaze into the mirror brought dismay. A puffy eyed woman with wild frazzled dark hair looked back.

She sighed. I am a mess, not an Empress.

Hope dragged a brush through her hair. Still unhappy with the result, she tied her hair back in a ponytail. Pulling on black leggings and a simple tunic top, she made her way to the galley, stopping first at the med bay to take the medicine that Sai prepared.

"You look like hell." Gabriel remarked, looking up from his breakfast.

Hope rolled her eyes. "Thanks Gab, I needed that."

Eshe poured a mug of tea and placed it before Hope. "Would you like something to eat?"

"I'm not very hungry." Hope sniffed the herbal tea, letting the warm moist vapors sooth her nose. "Maybe just some of that bread we got yesterday." She looked around. "Where is Dad?"

Gabriel replied, "Sleeping in again, I think."

With Celeste. It confused Hope how she should regard Celeste. Was the woman an advisor? A Sol Priestess in service to the Empress? Her father's lover? Her mother? All of these?

Sai came over the com. "Actually, Gabriel, they are not asleep. I believe that—"

Gabriel interrupted, holding a hand up. "We don't want to know, Sai." He turned to his sister. "Your fan club is waiting outside."

"I noticed." Hope sighed. "But who am I kidding? I'm not Empress material. Just a hick girl from a backwater planet, more like those people outside."

"And that's why you will be a great Empress, Hope." Gabriel put his hand on hers. "You've got this."

Hope chuckled. "Are you being supportive, Gab? That's scary."

He smirked. "Don't let it go to your head."

Taking a sip of tea, Hope said, "You know the Consortium will not go down without a fight. This is just beginning. What do I tell those people?"

Eshe put a hand on Hope's shoulder. "Tell them you care, that you are with them."

Hope nodded to her bodyguard. "Eshe, I am going to make your job more difficult."

Eshe sat down beside Hope, and her expression became stoic. "There is one thing I must say, Empress. Do you remember in the Consortium offices how you tackled me when that guard fired at us?"