Deathstalker 05 - Deathstalker Destiny

advance. Robert was a decent sort, but he wasn't used to being spontaneous and witty on command. And if you caught him by surprise, his language could be downright shocking. Toby put it down to his military background.
    As head of Imperial News, Toby would normally have dedicated coverage like this to the usual experts and professional sycophants, but Constance had personally requested his presence. Apparently she was a big fan of his coverage during the rebellion. And the owners of Imperial News had been only too happy to oblige her, in return for exclusive coverage. Toby had protested loudly and at length when this news had been broken to him, and none of it had done a blind bit of good. The wedding and coronation promised to be the social event of the year, if not the millennium, and Imperial News wanted exclusive rights so badly they were more than willing to sell Toby's soul to get it.
    "This isn't news," said Toby forcefully, not for the first time. He leaned against the buffet table, which creaked ominously under his weight. Toby ignored it, and lit up another cigar, in open defiance of Constance's strict no-smoking policy. "Not real news. Jack Random going psycho, that's real news, but I wasn't even allowed to go and meet him at the starport."
    "Just as well," said Flynn calmly. "The questions you were going to ask would undoubtedly have got us both incinerated on the spot. They say Random's got a really short fuse these days. And Ruby Journey always was…"
    "A complete bloody psychopath."
    "Quite. Personally, I like it here. No one's shooting at us."
    "So far," said Toby darkly. "There's a lot of people out there who don't want this wedding to go ahead. You saw the security setup around this place. The last time I saw that many armed guards in one place, there was a rebel army fighting them. I miss those days, Flynn. You knew where you were, then."
    "Yeah," said Flynn. "Right on the firing line. Personally, I don't miss those days at all. This is much more my speed. Civilized settings, finger food in all directions, and more pretty dresses in one place than I ever dreamed of. Do you think Constance might let me try on a few in private, if I asked her ever so nicely?"
    "Don't even think about it," said Toby sternly. "Constance might go along with it, but I have a feeling Robert is probably more straitlaced about these things.
    Besides, you and she aren't even remotely the same size, and if you stretch or tear anything, they'll probably make us pay for it. And you can bet one of those frilly numbers costs more than you and I make in a year. Well, you anyway. If you're really good, I'll ask if you can be a bridesmaid." He glanced around him.
    "This isn't news. This is cheerful propaganda, to take everyone's mind off how badly the war's going. I hear they're running the Arenas twenty-four hours a day now, to help keep the people distracted. Blood and circuses, and royal weddings.
    Give the people what they want. I may puke."
    "There's a rejected top hat to your right," said Flynn. "Try not to miss. The carpet's expensive."
    "Hold everything," said Toby. "Turn your camera on quietly. I think we're about to capture the happy couple's first real row."
    Robert had wandered away from his mirror in search of some distracting conversation with Constance, and had walked right into their first real
    disagreement. Constance was, and always had been, a major fan of the Arenas. The Wolfes had their own private box, right next to the sands, so they could be sure of seeing all the blood and suffering and deaths in close-up. Constance never missed a major match, and cheered and booed lustily as the mood took her. She knew all the great players by name and history, and could quote statistics with the cheerful zeal of the dedicated fanatic. She'd had a great crush on the Masked Gladiator as a teenager, and sent him scented fan letters. She adored it when the kill happened right in front of her.
    Robert thought the Arenas were barbaric, appealed to the baser nature in Humanity, and should be banned on moral grounds.
    Normally they dealt with this divergence of opinion by agreeing not to discuss it, but now Constance was talking about missing a vital wedding rehearsal in order to watch two of her favorites fight to the death, and Robert was having none of it. Coldly reasonable tones quickly escalated to raised and heated voices, and everyone else went very quiet and retreated to the sidelines in case the happy couple started