NationStates Jolt Archive

Iora, Sahor

Corrina Esther Goldfarb frowned slightly as the stylist finished doing her hair up. The teenage girl fidgeted in her seat as she studied herself in the mirror. “I’m not … I’m a little nervous. I’ve never even met most of the people who are going to be at this party and some of them are royal or imperial personages. Are you sure it looks alright, Angela?”

“You like fine, Corrina.” the twenty-something stylist said with a light smile. “I have done this before you know. It goes wonderfully with your dress and with the setting. You’ll be the most beautiful girl in the room. Trust me.”

Corrina didn’t feel fine. She felt rather nervous. A few years ago, when her father first entered politics, Corrina had been eager for the increase in the family’s status. Being honest with herself, she had even been more than a little arrogant about it. But now that her father had been knighted and appointed Governor-General of Marlund, position was becoming more trouble than it was worth. Over the last month, Corrina had received 113 marriage proposals, 711 death threats and 371 obscene letters. She had seen real and imagined details of her personal life published in Marlund’s tabloids. Moreover, despite the fact that she could occasionally bask in wealth and social prestige, Corrina ultimately believed in the left-wing values which her father had always advocated as a political leader and she couldn’t help but consider aspects of the family’s new society lifestyle to be compromises of principle.

Corrina stood up from her dressing table. “If you say so, Angela. I suppose we’d better be heading downstairs. The guests are probably starting to arrive at my … I can’t believe I’m having a debutante ball. I’m not a debutante. That’s the sort of thing that …Well …”

As Corrina spoke, her father and the Governor-General of Sahor appeared in the doorway. Corrina knew quite a lot about the Sahori Governor-General. Adair Scott had been a colleague of her father in the Danaan Labor Party and the only Labor Prime Minister of the Resurgent Dream before Labor merged into the Progressive Democratic Party. Now he was Baron Graig and the Governor-General of Sahor and he was hosting the debutante ball for her, the daughter of the Governor-General of Marlund, Sir Abraham Goldfarb, here in his official residence, Government House, commonly known as Burley Palace. How could she ever have a normal life again?

Corrina’s overwhelming feelings of displacement and of the almost unreal changes which had taken place within her life, her family’s and the political life of the Resurgent Dream and not just the Resurgent Dream proper but all the peoples and nations of the Commonwealth were pushed aside almost instantly when her father walked over to her and said with a small smile. “Aindreas is here.”

Alexios, Maria and Aindreas Apostolides wandered about the ballroom of Government House with the other guests, although they weren't really mingling, nor interested in mingling, with any of the other (substantially more important) invites. Alexios and Aindreas were both dressed in tuxedos and Maria wore an evening gown which was expensive by the standards of ordinary people but didn't really have anything on what the other ladies in attendance were wearing. None of them looked particularly comfortable or enthusiastic about being there, in fact Alexios looked positively unhappy to be there, intermittently crossing his arms in front of him as he murmured to his wife in Greek.

The Governors-General came down stairs with fairly little fanfare. Scott moved quietly into the crowd, speaking politely with one group and then another. Goldfarb, on the other hand, moved towards the Apostolides with a slightly nervous smile. He offered his hand to Alexios first. "I'm glad you could make it."

"Please, I'm glad you invited us, Your Excellency." Alexios lied, shaking Goldfarb's hand.

"Abraham is fine." Goldfarb said offhandedly. He then turned to Maria. "And I hope you had a nice trip, madam?"

"Yes, thank you." Maria replied. "We've been sightseeing."

"Iora is a new city but a very lovely one." Goldfarb commented. "And how are you, Aindreas?"

"I'm well, sir." Aindreas replied.

"Our daughters are back at the hotel." Maria explained, unprompted.

"They would have been more than welcome to visit." Goldfarb said.

"They are visiting, Abraham, they're visiting the city with us, they're just not here tonight." Maria clarified.

"Eleni got scared at the last minute." Alexios explained. "And our eldest stayed at the hotel to look after her."

The last part of the explanation wasn't exactly true - Anna Apostolides was, of course, on exchange to the Resurgent Dream when Corrina first visited New Jerusalem, and didn't really know the girl, besides which, she had expounded at great length on how she found the whole idea of a debutante ball to be rather pretentious, no doubt an attitude she picked up from her university friends.

Goldfarb smiled slightly as he turned towards the grand staircase. Corrina had just appeared and was preparing to descened into the ballroom and the conversation suddenly went silent as all attention was transferred to the teenager. She was dressed in what was her very first formal ballgown and it was a lovely affair, elegant yet modest. She smiled nervously as she looked around the crowd, moving directly for Aindreas and her father. Aindreas smiled back but didn't maintain it long as he shifted uncomfortably and found himself soon looking at his feet.

"Corrina looks beautiful, Abraham." Maria commented to the no doubt very proud father of the debutante.

Abraham nodded a little, grinning at his daughter, although he too seemed just slightly uncomfortable. The whole thing struck him as contrived and unnatural, more a concession to aristocratic tradition than a reasonable part of growing up. Still, she did look beautiful. "Thank you. I quite agree."

Corrina approached and hugged her father. "Where's Mum?" she asked simply.

Abraham paused a moment, surveying the crowd. "She was mingling a moment ... There she is with Mrs. Carson."

Corrina nodded, looking to her mother and giving a broad smile before turning to Aindreas and offering him her hand. She looked down and coloured slightly, giving an almost shy smile to the boy. "I'm glad you came."

"Thanks." Aindreas replied, taking her hand briefly after a moment's hesitation, before letting it go again.

"You look lovely, Corrina." Maria told her. "Doesn't she, Aindreas?"

"Yeah." Aindreas agreed, nodding and giving an awkward smile.

Corrina blushed a little and gave Maria a small embrace. "Hello, Mr. and Mrs. Apostolides. Thank you for attending."

"Thank your father for inviting us." answered Alexios.

"How are you, Corrina?" Maria asked.

"I'm... nervous. How are you, ma'am?" Corrina replied.

"We've all been well, but Eleni was nervous too. She changed her mind about coming at the last moment, and Anna stayed back at the hotel to look after her." Maria answered. "She was really looking forward to seeing you too."

"Maybe we can get together in a more comfortable setting later." Corrina said. "I've never even met Anna."

"That would be lovely, if we could." Maria agreed.

"It would be no problem." Abraham said.

"Good!" Maria smiled.

Corrina smiled back. "I think I should go say hello to my mother now, though."

"Of course, you go mingle and enjoy yourself!" Maria told her.

"Would you care to escort me, sir?" she said, turning to Aindreas.

"Uhh..." Aindreas began. It was obvious that he didn't want to but couldn't think of an excuse. "Sure."

Corrina took his arm and began walking towards her mother. She grinned broadly at first but her smile seemed to fade after a moment. "Is something wrong?"

"No." Aindreas replied.

"Oh...ok..." Corrina said tentatively.

"I just haven't been to anything like this before." Aindreas told her.

"I haven't either. It's kind of exciting and flattering in a lot of ways but... when everything's said and done... I'm not sure if I like the idea. My father's advisors say it's necessary, though, for a Governor-General's daughter." Corrina confided quietly.

"Right." Aindreas replied, unconvinced.

Corrina sighed slightly, glancing off for a moment as they crossed the room.

Corrina didn't say anything for the rest of the rather short walk. Aindreas, however, could certainly see that she was worried, upset and more than a little confused. She was trying to hide it with all the effectiveness at the command of a teenager trying to conceal emotions, which is to say she failed almost entirely.

Corrina hugged her mother and kissed her on her cheek. "Good evening, Mama."

"Hello, sweetheart." Corrina Ruth Goldfarb said to her daughter with a small smile. You look so beautiful tonight. And hello, Aindreas. I hope that you had a nice trip?"

Corrina smiled weakly and turned back to her boyfriend. "Thank you for walking with me, Aindreas." she said, freeing him from what he clearly regarded as a rather unpleasant situation.

Aindreas smiled in reply to Corrina's thanks, and then answered Corrina's mother in his politest tone.

"Yes, ma'am, I had a very pleasant trip." he told her.

"I'm glad to hear that. Maybe you and Corri can see some of Sahor after we're done with the party." she suggested with a broad smile.

"Yes, ma'am, I'd like that. My family and I have already been sightseeing, I am sure there's even more to see though." Aindreas said.

"The wildlife here is really quite amazing. Adair...excuse me...the Governor-General told me that they have a fascinating animal known as an ore snake. It moved underground and can only be detected by a small rumbling sound. They've been known to attack tourists although you never hear of anyone getting really hurt." she said.

"Mama..." Corrina started, a little embarrassed.

"Is it called an ore snake because it moves underground?" Aindreas asked. "Or is it only found in quarries and mines or something?"

"It's not real." Corrina explained. "It's a folk tale the Sahori scare gullible tourists with."

"Oh." Aindreas said, not appreciating being made a fool of by Corrina's mother.

"Really?" the older Corrina asked her daughter.

"I can't believe you believed him, Mama," Corrina said in a tone which was half-way between playful and embarrassed.

"Well, he's not some shyster. He's a Governor-General and a former Prime Minister. I assumed he had outgrown such boyish behavior." the older woman protested.

"I guess it makes sense. There is a lot of exotic wildlife in Ambara, after all." Corrina conceded. "Lions and elephants and the like."

"How does that make it make sense?" Aindreas inquired.

"Well, with so much unusual wildlife, something bizarre might sound more plausible." Corrina said.

"I thought you meant that it made sense that the Governor-General would make it up." Aindreas said.

"Oh." Corrina said. "I guess even he can't be serious all the time. Want to go out on the balcony and talk alone for a minute before I have to do all the traditional stuff?"

"Sure." Aindreas smiled, before looking to Corrina's mother. "If that's alright with you, ma'am."

"Of course." she said.

"What traditional stuff do you have to do?" Aindreas asked Corrina as he accompanied her through the ballroom out to the balcony.

"The father daughter dance, mostly." Corrina said as she leaned over the railing. "Thanks for coming. I know you're not having much fun but it means a lot to me to have you here."

"It isn't really our scene, huh?" Aindreas smiled, indicating towards his family through the window.

"No. It isn't really mine either." Corrina said. "Although I'll admit part of me likes it. It is glamorous. I promise we can do more ordinary stuff for the rest of your visit though."

Corrina smiled slightly. "There's a lot going on in Sahor right now. Prairies are being plowed and cities built. The first Sahori Parliament is meeting as well as the first Parliament in each of the States. Every State Government is a Labor Government, by the way. And even as people build this new land, the broader polity is forming a new nation up in New Amsterdam. I'm sure you've heard about all this on the news but it's something else to experience it in the streets. It's an exciting time for us and I want to show you that, even if Governor-Generals do still have to have old fashioned parties for their little girls."

Corrina rested one hand lightly on Aindreas's arm. "I...uh...there was something else I wanted to talk to you about. I've been looking at different universities. I only have one year left in school, after all. I was thinking about maybe going to university in Pantocratoria so that we could see each other regularly, like a real couple. Do you...do you think that you would like it if I did something like that?"