Loyalty by Niall Teasdale

Author:Niall Teasdale
Language: eng
Format: azw3, epub
Tags: school, Magic, magical warfare, sorcery, space war, Military, terrorism, magic school, war
Published: 0101-01-01T00:00:00+00:00

~~~

‘Hello, everyone.’ Michiko did not look nervous. She was nervous. She had come up with a list of things which could possibly go wrong and was trying to avoid them, even if doing so probably made them more likely. Right now, biting her tongue was one of her main concerns.

The room fell silent at her words, which was a bit of an ego boost. ‘Hello, everyone. My name is Michiko. I am the youngest daughter of Zackery and Yuzuki Trenton, and this is the first time I’ve been allowed to stay up for Alliance Day.’ That got her a smattering of applause. She turned her head to look at her beloved Onee-chan, standing just on her left. Mitsuko gave her a smile and a nod. Michiko turned back to the microphone. ‘My father has asked that I lead the toast for the new year, though he won’t let me actually drink alcohol, which isn’t fair if you think about it. If you can drink alcohol, it is ten minutes to midnight, so please get ready.’

As the noise level rose again and some of the guests hurried off to find a drink, Michiko turned to Mitsuko. ‘Did I do that okay, Onee-chan?’

‘You were perfect,’ Mitsuko replied. ‘Father is the colour of a beetroot. Aunt Misaki is teasing him terribly. It’s all good.’

‘Okay. What’s a beetroot?’

‘Honestly, Michiko, I have no idea, but they are apparently red.’

‘I’ll look it up in the morning. If I remember.’ Michiko looked at her ketcom screen which was showing a countdown. ‘Now I just have to get it right again after midnight.’

‘You’ll do fine. You should get something to drink too.’

Michiko pouted. ‘There doesn’t seem much point if–’

‘Alcohol,’ Nava said, stepping up with a glass of juice for Michiko, ‘is overrated.’

‘Then why do adults like it so much?’

‘Because a lot of adults find it impossible to have fun unless their intellect has been subdued in some manner. So, they put up with the sore head they get in the morning and the worry that they might have done something really bad the night before. Never make the mistake of assuming that adults are always right. Many of them have no common sense at all.’

‘Like Uncle Spencer?’

‘That,’ Nava said, ‘is a rather extreme example, but he should serve as a good example that alcohol should be drunk in moderation.’

Michiko nodded solemnly. ‘When, finally, possibly after I leave SAS-squared, I am allowed to drink, I shall remember that.’

Mitsuko grinned. ‘It’s not like she’s bitter or anything.’

‘Clearly not,’ Nava agreed.

And then came the part where Michiko counted down to the end of the year. There was little ceremony in the Clan Worlds regarding Alliance Day. For a culture with a lot of weight given to tradition, the celebration of the start of the Alliance came down, here and now, to a thirteen-year-old girl calling out ‘Happy New Year!’ and the raising of glasses.

‘And now you get another thirty minutes,’ Mitsuko said to her sister.

‘I know,’ Michiko said. ‘I am getting a little tired.

Download

Copyright Disclaimer:
This site does not store any files on its server. We only index and link to content provided by other sites. Please contact the content providers to delete copyright contents if any and email us, we'll remove relevant links or contents immediately.