New Rome

51. A Special Guest

Alry's ship landed in Amen. She sat nervously in her seat, her fingers tapping restlessly against her safety harness. Finally, they'd arrived. It was like a swarm of butterflies were fluttering around her stomach. She waited until the warning light above her head flashed green, before removing her harness. From outside the ship, she could hear people yelling instructions at one another. The doors opened and, hesitantly, Arly approached them and peered through the smoke at the world beyond.

Bright lights flashed through the smog and Arly was overwhelmed by the barrage of noise. She shakily descended a narrow set of stairs that had been propped up against the side of the ship. The smoke slowly cleared and Arly finally saw the workers. She removed her helmet, coughing in the polluted air, but was too amazed to care.

Her feet touched down on the tarmac and she rooted to the spot, soaking in the sights around her. Workers hurried about. Aliens. They were all aliens. Arly admired the horns that grew from their heads, the varying shapes signifying which part of the planet their ancestors came from. Arly was half their size and, lacking horns, she looked even smaller – in even more danger of being trampled on.

"Princess?" A human woman emerged from the smog, dressed in Amenian robes.

"Greetings."

"Greetings, I'm Rube. The ambassador for New Rome here in Amen. The Imperator asked me to take care of you."

Arly smiled politely.

"My gratitude."

Rube paused for a moment, studying her. She signed sadly.

"You're very young. A baby bird out of the nest..."

Rube led the way through the chaos of the docks. Some Amenian's cast them curious glances as they passed, unused to seeing humans so well dressed. Most only met humans at the frontline – where they were underfed cannon-fodder. A large Amenian man cut into their path, steam exhaling from his nostrils. He growled something in an accent too thick for Arly to understand.

"Greetings." She replied in Amenian. The man spat at her feet before stomping off.

Rube grabbed Arly's elbow and steered her to keep her walking, picking up the pace. "That was strange. What was that about?" Arly asked, stunned. The man's glob of saliva continued to gleam on her shoe.

"Not all people in Amen are tolerant of our kind." Rube explained. "The working class in particular don't think we should have been given 'free land', as they put it."

"But it wasn't free. We have to fight in the empire's wars for it." Arly pointed out.

They stepped down from the dock and into the squelching mud of the street.

"Racism is still strong in some neighbourhoods. Poverty breeds anger. But some will remember your brother. Prince Guy did good work here."

Arly smiled slightly. Guy had been here. She was re-treading the steps he'd taken. Tilting her chin up, she gazed up at the sky and tried to see the suns through the smog.

"This is our transport." Rube directed her, gesturing to the convoy of cars waiting for them.

"Greetings." Arly spoke in Amenian to the troops that were standing by the car door. Their horns were thick and curved up, like a bull's. One man grunted, gesturing for her to quickly get inside. Arly clambered into the backseat. "Can we have the window rolled down?" She asked, as the troops all herded into the convoy.