another snippet- kinda spoilery

Clad in black trousers, my hand reached for the dusty blue-green tank. I hesitated, but there had only been one choice, hadn’t there? The tank slid over my head and was tucked in. The kurta followed. It was a relic of the distant past. The galaxy said war had ended a millennia ago, but we kept the military alive in our fashion— richly brocaded silk jackets that harkened back to our warring history. This one was solid black silk, heavily embroidered in red and gold, complete with forty small buttons up the front. I smiled at my reflection. Every inch said "Galactic Minister."

The back of my closet spoke the truth about the lie I was wearing. It was a dedicated section to my mother’s home world, and every time mother and Freya came to visit, I had new clothing and another lecture from my sister. “Iqui, if you’d just get out of those stodgy kurtas, you’d relax long enough to go on a date. I know some beautiful men. Or, is it women? More than one at a time? Or heavily augmented? Or robots? Fucking clouds, brother, are you into robots? Is that what it will take to get you to go on a date, for fuck’s sake?”

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I was not into robots or anything else. I was into one person, and Freya wouldn’t know about it until I found her. Freya could never be allowed to see the prank video I’d just watched, or I’d find myself married before I knew what had hit me. Oh hells, what was I thinking? Freya was probably one of the 837 billion viewers of that damn video and an adoring fan. No, Freya could never be allowed to know that I’d watched it. Clouds. The moment I set foot in Juanna’s on the Terrace, everyone in Andromeda Galaxy would know I was on a date with that woman. Freya would know before I left the restaurant.

Madrano, I will strangle you with my bare hands.

Wait, what was this? A smile on my face? Perfect! That was the secret. Now I had a way to get through this dinner. Every time I wanted to glare daggers at my date and demand answers from her, I’d remember strangling Madrano with my bare hands and smile warmly instead.