Deathstalker 04 - Deathstalker Honor

don’t.” She reached out to him with both hands, but he shrank back rather than touch her. She dropped her hands, and her eyes filled with unshed tears. “Oh, Julian. My feelings for you were genuine then, though I couldn’t give in to them. Now things have changed. I’ve changed. Because of my position. Blue Block has given me more and more freedom and room for personal initiative. At last I’m free to follow where my heart leads. People can change; you must believe that. We could be together again, Julian. Like we used to be, only better. There are no secrets between us anymore.” “There will always be secrets, as long as you still represent Blue Block.”
    Julian shook his head jerkily, fighting to keep his voice steady. “Go away, BB. Whatever game you’re playing, I don’t want any part of it. What we had, what I thought we had, was never more than a dream.
    And I’ve woken up now. It took me a long time to get over you, BB. I won’t put myself through that again. Just… go. Please.”
    “I’ll go,” said BB. “I’ll walk away and never see you again. Just tell me you don’t love me anymore.”
    “BB…”
    “Tell me that and I’ll go. Even though I love you. Because I’d rather die than see you hurt again. Just say… you don’t love me.” “I don’t love you.”
    “Liar,” said BB Chojiro softly.
    “Oh, God, of course I love you, BB. I’ll always love you.” She reached up and placed her fingertips on his mouth. “You don’t have to say anymore, my darling. I know how difficult that must have been for you. But trust me, things will be different this time. I’m free now of many of my old constraints. Still, I think we’ve said enough for now. We have time… all the time we need. Goodbye, my love. For now.”
    And she turned and walked away, back to Brendan and Stephanie and her advisers. Julian watched her go, and didn’t know what to say or think. She’d given every indication of being honest and genuine, but none of that mattered, because she was Blue Block. All he knew for sure was that his heart was beating again the way it used to, when he still knew what happiness was, when his love had been something more than just a road to damnation. Julian Skye watched her go, and cursed himself for a fool for still believing in happy endings. Toby Shreck and his cameraman Flynn made the rounds of the Chamber, pressing the flesh with one and all. It seemed everyone wanted his approval, now he was head of Imperial News. He did on-the-spot interviews with practically everyone, and hoped to sort some gold out of the endless practiced sound bites in the editing suite later. Politicians were born with the ability to say much while committing themselves to as little as possible, but Toby had experience in getting them to confirm more than they meant, and say more than they realized. Until they saw it on the news later. Toby stayed much later than he meant to, simply because he was enjoying himself so much. This was real news gathering, bracing old friends and enemies with the same friendly smile while digging out the truth despite everything they could throw in his path.
    Eventually the Members decided they were ready, struck their most impressive poses, and gave the order for the door to the Chamber to be flung open. Everyone in the Chamber then rushed forward into the House, trampling the slower moving underfoot. The two ranks of seats on either side of the open floor were packed with MPs, till they were practically sitting on each other’s laps. Previously, it had been a miracle if a quarter of the seats had been filled at any one time, but these days the Members were all desperate to be seen on the news. Most had upcoming elections to consider, by the new universal electorate, and needed to be at least seen to be doing something.
    The floor of the House quickly filled with people, and the air was full of flying cameras trying to elbow each other aside for the best angles. The MPs sat carefully upright in their seats, looking down on everyone else. Their PR people had warned them on the dangers of slouching. It made them look undignified on camera. The MPs had also hired researchers to dig out old Parliamentary customs they could use, from the days when Parliament still meant something, but they hadn’t quite got the hang of most of them yet. For example, nowadays all MPs proudly wore the traditional black and scarlet gowns and powdered white periwigs, but so far no one had had