A Sterkarm Kiss by Susan Price Read Free Book Online

tomorrow.” Now she was going to have to rely on her previous experience to wing it.
    It should be a memorable occasion. Ordinary weddings were bad enough, notoriously descending into rows between the families, but the Sterkarms and the Grannams had been feuding for generations, and their hatred for each other wasn’t usually expressed by snubbing one another in the street or refusing to let their children play together.
    Gareth was nervously eyeing Windsor, waiting for his approval. Andrea felt sorry for him. “It all looks beautiful,” she said truthfully. It looked beautiful even if you were used to such things. To 16th siders, she could only imagine that it would seem beyond beautiful. Unearthly. Magical.
    â€œWhat about when they arrive?” Windsor asked. “Are we all set to make them welcome?”
    â€œOver here,” Gareth said, and led them back down the hall to the entrance. A table had been set up just inside the door, crammed with many shiny little gift bags in brilliant metallic purples, reds, greens, and golds. “I thought wine and nibbles would be a waste of time,” Gareth explained nervously, “since most of them won’t touch our food. So I’ve made up these goodie bags instead. They’ve all got a packet of aspirins, and then things like a book of needles, bar of fancy soap, lacy hanky, little bottle of scent, a shiny brooch … Things like that.”
    â€œHow do you tell which are for men and which for women?” Windsor asked, since the bags seemed to be arranged in no order.
    â€œDoesn’t matter,” Gareth said. “Everybody likes scent and lacy hankies over here.”
    â€œExcellent,” Windsor said. “Andrea should play hostess. It’ll help to introduce her. Okay, Andrea?”
    Andrea’s heart speeded up. “Oh! Yes! No problem.” She caught another annoyed look from Gareth. What was his problem? She had enough of her own. She still didn’t know quite what was going on. Should her greeting be lighthearted or solemn? “Er—whom, exactly, shall I be greeting?”
    They both looked at her.
    â€œOh dear, fancy Miss Swotty-Drawers not doing her homework,” Windsor said. “Didn’t you read your file?”
    Andrea opened her mouth to apologize, then changed her mind and was about to explain that the file had never arrived, and then realized that, whatever she said, Windsor would only twist it. Never apologize, never explain. She stared at Windsor but said nothing.
    Gareth smiled. “I can take Miss Mitchell around, if you like, and bring her up to speed.”
    Windsor said, “Oh fine, go on, go on.” He turned and left on business of his own.
    Alone with Andrea, Gareth gave her another look over. He had been quick to bid for Brownie points with Windsor by offering to baby-sit her, but it wasn’t a job he really wanted. She was on the large side, and all that long, loose hair made her untidy. There was too much of her in every way for Gareth’s liking. He hadn’t liked the crack Windsor had made as he’d introduced her either. “I’ve brought you some help.” As if he needed help, especially from an ex-barmaid. And future concubine. “I’ll show you around the complex,” he said.
    There was a lot to see. A second inflatable, just as large, had been erected behind the first. Music chimed as they pushed through the screen of silver beads. Inside was another wooden floor, and more bowers of artificial flowers, but all the seats were around the walls. “This is just for the dancing,” Gareth said.
    Behind this inflatable were two blocks of chemical toilets. “For us. The 16th siders make their own arrangements.” Here, too, was the prefab office, the catering van for the 21st-side workers, and the prefab that housed Security. The cooking huts of the 16th siders had been put up at the edges of the encampment. At the back of