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“Gaspare, what are your plans for Himostava?” Kuen asked. It was two and a half months until Himostava. Already there was talk of some of the parties being whispered but nothing had been announced so no one was making any plans as of yet.

“Himostava?” Gaspare asked. “I have no plans. Mother is throwing a small party, but I’ve already told her I’m not going because all she’ll be doing is throwing girls at me to find me a wife.”

“Why don’t we have a quiet little gathering here, with Fiera?” Kuen asked. “We’ll have to contract her now. She warned me she fills up fast for the Himostava parties once they’re announced.”

“What if we each booked her for a full day, the day before and the day of Himostava?” Gaspare said. “Give her two days away from the parties. I know they can’t be that much fun for her.”

“I think she’d appreciate that,” Kuen said. “It’s probably going to cost us a small fortune though. I can’t imagine she’ll be cheap.”

“My father’s increased our stipend again because of the information we’ve fed him on your mother’s actions,” Gaspare said. “We can afford it.”

“All right,” Kuen said. “Let’s call her House now, before someone else gets the bright idea to book her ahead of time.”

Gaspare went over and dialed the comm code for the House of the Midnight Sun. Intira answered. “Lord Benoit, Lord Nakano, how can I be of service?” she asked.

“Has Fiera been booked for any Himostava parties yet?” Gaspare asked.

“No, not yet,” Intira said. “Though I expect that to change very soon. She is incredibly popular.”

“I want her all day the day before Himostava,” Gaspare said.

“And I want her all day the day of Himostava,” Kuen said.

Intira blinked. “You want to book all her working hours on both days?” she asked.

“Yes,” Gaspare said. “We do. We each want her one day, to accompany us to the parties we’re required to attend.”

“That is not going to be cheap, Lord Benoit,” Intira said. “Her prices usually go up around this time.”

“How much for the full day, Intira?” Kuen asked.

“Five hundred credits for the full day, Lord Nakano,” Intira said. Gaspare transferred a thousand credits from their joint account over to Intira. She saw the payment come through. “I will inform her that those two days have already been booked out by you two.”

“Thank you, Intira,” Kuen said.

“Is there anything special you would like her to do for those days?” Intira asked.

“Not on my day,” Gaspare said.

“I don’t think I have anything special planned on my day,” Kuen said.

“Very well,” Intira said. “I’ll let her know that she doesn’t need to prepare for anything in particular.”

“Thank you, Intira,” Kuen said. Intira nodded and ended the call.

“Well, there went a great deal of our savings,” Gaspare said. “The old man is going to have a fit when he finds out we spent it on her.”

“It’s our money. We can spend it how we wish,” Kuen said.

“That’s a fair point,” Gaspare said. “So, what are your plans for today?”

“Another meeting with a councilor for my mother, and then four parties tonight,” Kuen said. “Unfortunately for me, Fiera was booked up so I couldn’t take her to any of them.”

“That’s too bad. She would at least have made the parties bearable,” Gaspare said. “I’ve got to report to the old man and then I promised mother I’d come and have lunch with her and my sisters. After that it’s off to a few parties and hopefully an early night. I contracted a different Pleasure Seeker from Aoi’s house that I’ve had a few pleasant experiences with so at least I’m not going it alone tonight.”

“My reputation precedes me,” Kuen said wryly. “I can’t get a Pleasure Seeker to agree to take a contract with me even though I no longer view them in the same light as I once did.”

“I warned you that bad attitude of yours would come back to bite you in the ass,” Gaspare said.

“You did and it has,” Kuen said. “Even Pleasure Seekers who are new to their profession have heard of me and won’t take my contracts. They’d rather take the penalty for refusal than consider a contract with me.”

“This is a serious problem, Kuen,” Gaspare said. “Pleasure Seekers are the only safe females, and if your mother sees you spending too much time with Fiera, she could designate her a threat.”

“I know that,” Kuen said. “But what else am I supposed to do? Not even the Nakano family name and our fortune is enough to entice a Pleasure Seeker into taking a contract with me.” He glanced at the time. “I’d better go if I don’t want to be late.”

“Try to enjoy yourself at the parties tonight,” Gaspare said.

“That won’t be possible. I’m attending two with members of the High Command,” Kuen muttered.

Gaspare winced. “I might actually be at one of those,” he said. “I’ll see if I can catch up with you there.”

“All right,” Kuen said. The two men separated and went to their various pursuits.

The next two and a half months passed slowly for Kuen. His mother didn’t have as many meetings for him to attend, so he had a great deal of free time. He decided to spend it looking for a present for Fiera. Gaspare had less free time than he did, but he still made time to join Kuen on his searches for the perfect gift for Fiera.

The morning before Himostava, the two young men hung garlands in their townhouse, much to the surprise of their servants. “It looks very festive,” Gaspare said.

“At least we’re trying,” Kuen said. “Mother doesn’t even bother.”

“My mother is driving my father insane with her decorations,” Gaspare said. “She goes overboard with the garlands, the baubles, and lights every year. He tries to avoid being home over Himostava because of that. I don’t blame him. I told mother I wasn’t coming home as well. I’m not going to spend my holiday having every eligible young woman thrown at me in the hopes that one of them will catch my eye.”

“Is she still doing that?” Kuen asked.

“She’s matchmaking for all of us who aren’t married yet, which is most of her children,” Gaspare said. “She’s desperate to find husbands for my sisters that my father isn’t the one picking for them. Honore especially refuses all husbands being thrown her way, as well as the two young men my father told her to choose from. She says she’s not ready for marriage.”

“If she says she’s not ready, your parents can’t force her,” Kuen said.

“I know that,” Gaspare said. “That’s why I’m not married right now either. I’ve told them I’m not looking for a wife right now either. That doesn’t stop mother from trying.”

“I can see why you’re avoiding the family events then,” Kuen said.

“Okay, I’ve had the servants lay in a greater stock of food so we can feed Fiera properly,” Gaspare said. “They should be preparing a high protein lunch for us. It’s about time I went and picked her up.”

“All right,” Kuen said. “I’ll go check on the servants and make sure they’re doing what you told them to.”

“I’ll be back in a bit,” Gaspare said. He pulled on his jacket and headed out the door.

Kuen made his way into the kitchen. He saw the servants were making the usual lunch for the two young men. “I know Gaspare ordered you to make a high protein lunch. Our guest is a heavy worlder and needs such considerations. Why are you not doing as you’re told?” he asked coldly.

The cook jumped, not having seen Kuen when he entered. “But Lord Kuen, this is what we always fix,” he protested.

“You were told to fix something other than what you always fix,” Kuen said. “I ask again, why are you not doing as you’re told? Do we have to let the ISRS pick you up and bring in someone else who’ll do the job when asked?”

“Of course not, Lord Kuen,” the man said, quickly clearing the dishes off the cooking unit. “I’ll get started on a proper heavyworlder lunch right away.”

“Excellent,” Kuen said. “She’ll be with us all day, so we’ll expect dinner to be the same thing. Tomorrow we’ll require the exact same thing. Not the same food, mind you. But two heavyworlder meals for lunch and dinner.”

“Of course, Lord Kuen,” the cook said. “Will the young lady be joining us for breakfast as well?”

“No, we’ll be returning her to her House this evening,” Kuen said. “Just lunch and dinner will be fine.”

“Of course, Lord Kuen,” the cook said. He and his assistants got to work.

Kuen left the kitchen and went back upstairs. He put on some of the traditional Himostava music and waited. Gaspare returned an hour and a half later with Fiera in tow. “You two paid for me to take two days off of parties,” Fiera was saying as she came in with Gaspare.

“We hope you don’t mind,” Gaspare said.

“I’d kiss you both if that wouldn’t give the both of you the wrong idea,” Fiera said with a laugh. “I have been attending Himostava parties for the past two weeks. Multiple parties every day. I need a break from them.”

“We thought you might,” Kuen said. “That’s why Gaspare contracted you for today and I contracted you for tomorrow.”

“Thank you,” Fiera said. “Parties on Himostava itself are horrendous for me because my patrons and their hosts are forever exchanging gifts, and then telling me because I’m a Pleasure Seeker I obviously don’t need gifts so they didn’t get me one. I am very tired of hearing that every year, multiple times a day.”

“Wait,” Kuen said. “What does your being a Pleasure Seeker have to do with you getting a gift? Everyone deserves gifts at Himostava.”

“As a Pleasure Seeker, my every need is looked after by my House Master,” Fiera said, bitterness dripping from every word. “What more could I want than that?”

“They’re imbeciles,” Gaspare said. “Just because you have what you need doesn’t mean you don’t have wants and desires like every other human being.”

Fiera shook her head. “You understand that, Gaspare. But try to explain it to the rest of your caste. Very few Pleasure Seekers get gifts from their patrons over Himostava, and none of us like Himostava parties for that reason.”

“Lunch will be slightly delayed,” Kuen said. Gaspare looked at him with some exasperation. “It seems our cook deliberately decided to ignore his orders. I had to be rather firm with him before he understood what we were asking him to do.”

“Starfire, I’m sorry, Fiera. I know you’re hungry,” Gaspare said.

“I can wait,” Fiera said. “I’m not starving. I ate breakfast late this morning because I wasn’t in any rush to get ready. I knew you’d be by to pick me up for lunch, and I knew I’d need to be ready for that. But my stylists already had a plan for me for that, so I just took my time and when I was done they worked their magic.”

“You look stunning, as always,” Kuen said.

“Thanks,” Fiera said. “I didn’t know what I was being contracted for so I went for simple and elegant. I think that was the best idea. Tomorrow will be more of the same?”

“It will,” Kuen said.

“Then I’ll do a similar look tomorrow,” Fiera said.

They sat down and chatted until the servants brought lunch up. Kuen saw Fiera’s eyes light up at the high protein content of the food. They ate and resumed their conversation. They watched a few Himostava themed holos that Gaspare had picked out, and then played cards for a few hours. They paused their game for dinner, and then continued playing until it was time for Gaspare to take Fiera back to her House.

The next day, Kuen went and picked her up at the expected time. She was waiting for him. “You look a little out of sorts,” Kuen said as he entered the House.

“One of my usual annoyances came in to pick up the Pleasure Seeker he contracted for his first party of the day,” Fiera said sourly. “He gave me hell for not being free for his benefit for today. When I told him that you had contracted me for the whole day, he told me I should have refused the contract so more people could benefit from my company. I just looked at him and said I wasn’t about to turn down a request from a favored patron.”

“I take it he didn’t accept that,” Kuen said.

“No, he didn’t,” Fiera said. “He told me he should be one of my favored patrons because he spent so much money on me each year. I told him that he only ever contracted me for a few hours on Himostava, and you two are steady customers all through the year. Intira told him that he wasn’t worth making a favored patron because he didn’t offer a good return on value for any of the Pleasure Seekers here, and to stop harassing me or she’d get Iacchus to cancel his contract with the Pleasure Seeker he was here to pick up.”

“Our Blue Butterfly is worth more than his petty griping,” Intira said from where she lounged behind the counter. “I will not put up with his comments. Neither will Iacchus. Which is why he left without a Pleasure Seeker on his arm.”

“He didn’t get the Pleasure Seeker he contracted?” Kuen asked.

“No, he didn’t,” Fiera said. “He mouthed off to Intira about how she was only hired help and couldn’t tell him what to do.”

“Well, that’s certainly putting his foot into his mouth,” Kuen said. “Even I know Intira isn’t just hired help.”

“No, I am not,” Intira said hotly. “And I do not appreciate being called that. I spoke with Iacchus, and he terminated the contract. We had our enforcers throw the petty child out. The sec ops took care of him when he would not leave our property.”

“The problem is the Pleasure Seeker whose contract got pulled is one of our less popular ones and she didn’t have many contracts today,” Fiera said. “She’s blaming me for the contract being terminated.”

“Iacchus is talking to her now, Butterfly,” Intira said. “He will straighten her out. Or you will slap some sense into her when you get back. One of the two.”

“I was hoping to avoid a fight, Intira,” Fiera said. “I’ve managed to avoid fighting for the past few months. I was enjoying the peace.”

“You cannot always avoid the fights, Butterfly,” Intira said.

“No, no I can’t,” Fiera said with a sigh.

“Come on, Fiera,” Kuen said. “We’ll be late for lunch if we stay here any longer.”

“You’re right,” Fiera said. “I don’t want to delay you any longer than I already have.”

“Enjoy your day,” Intira said as the two of them walked out.

“Do you think you’ll have to fight with that other courtesan?” Kuen asked.

“I’ve had to fight her before,” Fiera said. “She lost that fight then, she’ll lose this one now. She doesn’t get the fact that as a featherweight she can’t stand up to me in a knockdown, drag out fight. It’s the ones that were sneaky and attacked me from behind that did me some damage before I took them out.” She winced. “Except for the ketch who attacked me and Calixtra. She got the better of me because she used a weapon. Unfortunately, Cali got caught in the attack and was severely injured. Thankfully the laws were changed so I didn’t have to pay either mine or Cali’s medical bills for that one, and the piece of drek who attacked us was liquidated.”

“I take it Calixtra was someone important to you?” Kuen asked.

“She and her brother Xenon were my first stylists,” Fiera said, climbing into Kuen’s car. “I didn’t want to let them go, but Iacchus retired Cali because of her injuries and Xenon went with her to take care of her. I like Lil and Dev. They’re good at what they do and we get along fine. But they aren’t Xenon and Cali.”

“It must be hard to have someone new taking care of you if you had Xenon and Calixtra for so long,” Kuen said.

“I had them since I was first indentured,” Fiera said. “Xenon, Calixtra, and Cali’s twin Cambria were my trainers. Then Cambria made Iacchus angry, and he liquidated her after beating her rather severely. I offered to take on Xenon and Cali’s debt so they could follow me to Bouarus, and Iacchus allowed it. Neither of them had a lot left, it was just over eight thousand, but it was still a significant amount when added to what I already owed. It’s still amazing that I paid off everything I owed in only five years.”

“That is an impressive feat,” Kuen said. “Do you still talk to Xenon and Calixtra?”

“Every chance I get,” Fiera said. “I called them last night when I got back to wish them a happy Himostava. I’d sent them gifts and wanted to be sure they got them.”

“Oh?” Kuen asked, curious about what you gave to former stylists.

“I sent Cali a new bracelet and Xenon a physical copy of a book,” Fiera said. “Xenon loves antique stuff like that, and Cali was my jeweler and always wished she could own pieces of jewelry like I did. It ate up a chunk of my savings, but I thought it was worth it to see them smile. Cali still doesn’t talk much, the injuries to her throat make speaking painful for her, but she can still be very expressive without speech and she made sure I understood how grateful she was.”

“Did you give your current stylists gifts?” Kuen asked.

“I gave Lil a new pad and Dev a year’s access to financial courses through Bouarus University’s Distance Study Program,” Fiera said. “Lil told me she’s needed a new pad for a while, but Iacchus won’t buy her one because he’s cheap and hers still worked, just not very well. He wouldn’t buy her one until it broke completely. And Dev is hoping to one day retire and become a financial consultant, so I turned her loose with the courses for her to take in her spare time.”

“Is she going to have that spare time to take the courses?” Kuen asked.

“Oh yes,” Fiera said. “I don’t do mornings anymore. I decided I wanted to sleep in, so I informed Iacchus I wasn’t taking morning contracts, only afternoon and evening, except for you and Gaspare. He grumbled about it but accepted it since I did make the exception for you two. I didn’t get many morning contracts to begin with, so doing away with them didn’t hurt his profit margin that much anyway. Dev has all morning to do her lessons, a fact that was not lost on her.”

“That’s excellent news for her,” Kuen said.

“Azari and Sidonie I told Iacchus I was donating one hundred credits to each of them to help pay down their debt,” Fiera said. “It’s not much, but those two have fairly low debt right now as it stands. By law, Iacchus has to pay them a fair wage to help bring down their debt since they aren’t Pleasure Seekers, so their debt is slowly going down. I just gave it a little boost.”

“You really don’t like the indentured servant program, do you?” Kuen asked.

“No, I do not,” Fiera said. “It’s legalized slavery, adversely affects a greater proportion of Colonists than it does Core Worlders, and unless you’re really lucky as I was it is almost impossible to buy your freedom. I think it should be done away with completely and a new method for dealing with debt found. Of course, I can’t do anything about it, so I tend to keep my opinions to myself even when asked by most patrons because they’re highly unflattering.”

They reached the townhouse shared by the two men a short while later. Gaspare greeted them and they played cards again until lunch was served. After lunch, they watched a couple more Himostava themed holos.

“These have to be the sappiest films I’ve seen in a long time,” Gaspare said as the second one concluded.

“Most Himostava themed holos are sappy,” Fiera said. “That seems to be a requirement. The children’s holos for the season aren’t too bad, if you can stand obnoxiously cheerful animated characters. But the movies meant for adults are sappy, formulaic, and if you’ve seen one you’ve seen them all.”

“I’m beginning to feel that way,” Gaspare said.

“Should we do presents now or after dinner?” Kuen asked.

“Presents?” Fiera asked.

“Yes, we each got you something,” Gaspare said. “Do you want them now? Or do you want to wait until after dinner?”

“I can wait until after dinner,” Fiera said.

“That’s not what we asked,” Kuen said with a grin. “Do you want to wait until after dinner?”

Fiera laughed. “No, I want to be greedy and see what you got me now,” she admitted.

“Then let’s do presents now,” Kuen said. He and Gaspare went into the office and brought out a pair of brightly wrapped boxes. “We weren’t sure what to get you so we took a guess at what you might like.”

“I’m not overly picky,” Fiera said. “Unless it’s perfume. Then I’m very picky.”

“No perfume,” Gaspare said. “At least not from me.”

“I didn’t get perfume either,” Kuen said.

“Okay,” Fiera said. She took Gaspare’s package. She started carefully unwrapping it but gave in and tore the paper off of it after he laughed at her. She opened the box. Inside was a small collection of holo cubes. She looked at him inquisitively.

“They’re a history of the Colonies as told by a Gaiteran observer,” Gaspare said. “I found them in a book shop. I thought you might enjoy them.”

“Thank you,” Fiera said. “I will read these with great pleasure.” She set aside Gaspare’s box and tore into Kuen’s present. Inside was a large amethyst crystal cluster set in a carved quartz bowl. She looked at it curiously.

“If you put water in here and press this, you’ll have a miniature water feature like the water garden we visited,” Kuen explained, showing her how the device worked. “You’ll have to refill it periodically because of evaporation, but it doesn’t need a water source hooked up to it.”

Fiera’s eyes lit up. “I’ll keep this by my bed, to remind me of that beautiful place,” she said with a smile.

Gaspare shook his head. “You two can keep the Sanctuary Crystal Water Garden to yourselves,” he said with a derisive snort. “That place is highly unappealing to me.”

“I’d love to see it again,” Fiera said wistfully.

“I’ll take you there again one of these days,” Kuen promised her.

“Thank you,” Fiera said. She set the box down. “Now it’s time for your presents.”

“Our presents?” Gaspare asked.

Fiera nodded. “I couldn’t let Himostava go past and not give you two presents. They’re not much, but I wanted to be sure to get you both something.” She grabbed up the small purse she’d brought with her and brought out two small, brightly wrapped packages. She looked them both over carefully. “Okay, this one is for Gaspare. And this one is for Kuen.”

Gaspare opened his first. It was an intricately carved stone cat. It looked like it had been carved from jade. “This is exquisite, Fiera,” he said, turning it over in his hands.

“You remind me of my brother Phelix, Gaspare. And Phelix always reminded me of a cat,” Fiera said. “So I thought I’d get you a cat you could keep with you.”

“Thank you,” Gaspare said, tucking the small figurine into his pocket.

Kuen opened his box slowly. Inside was a small phoenix carved out of red jasper. He looked at her. “You gave me the phoenix brooch,” she said softly. “I thought you needed a phoenix of your own to protect you.”

Kuen tucked the phoenix into his pocket. “Thank you, Fiera,” he said. She couldn’t know what that gift meant to him. It was the first true gift he’d ever received. The brooch was an inheritance that he’d never wanted. His mother had never given him anything, and if she had when he was a young child he no longer remembered. Gaspare and he never exchanged gifts. This was more precious to him than anything he owned.

“Well, gifts have been exchanged, and we’ve still got an hour before dinner,” Gaspare said. “What should we do now?”

“We could start another holo,” Kuen said.

“Not another Himostava holo,” Fiera groaned.

“No, I was thinking of a different holo,” Kuen said. “Something not entirely in keeping with the season, though I’ve been told it’s considered a Himostava holo by some because the festival features prominently in a couple of key scenes in the movie itself.”

“Oh?” Gaspare asked. Then he grinned. “I think you know which holo you’re talking about. My father absolutely hates that one. He says it’s unrealistic and demoralizing.”

“It’s exactly the one I was thinking of,” Kuen said with a laugh.

“Now you two have me intrigued,” Fiera said. “I’ll watch it as long as it isn’t sappy.”

“Oh no,” Gaspare said. “Sappy it is not. Violent, action packed, and full of drama it is. But definitely not sappy.”

“Sounds good to me,” Fiera said. They settled in to watch another holo while they waited for dinner to be prepared. After the holo was over, they ate dinner and played a few more rounds of cards before Kuen took Fiera back to her House. Kuen returned to the townhouse and went to bed. He set his phoenix next to his pad. On the whole, this had been a rather successful and enjoyable Himostava, the first one he’d truly enjoyed in a long time. He hoped Fiera had enjoyed herself as well. He closed his eyes and dreamt of red hair, teal eyes, and a distinctive laugh.