Young Writers Society

Kris pretended to consider his offer for a moment. "That seems fair," she agreed. "So where exactly are these resources stored?"

Senator Garvey scratched the back of his head. "Uh, are you certain this is the best time?"

"The interests of the people must outweigh all else, yes?" Kris looked into his eyes intently and secretly relished the discomfort she saw.

"Yes, yes, of course, you're right." Senator Garvey nodded and turned towards the door. "I suppose no one will miss us. Right this way."

Kris followed him to an exit off the ballroom, unable to suppress the grin that spread across her face.

Rana flirted with him a bit more as they made their way over the refreshments and she ate as much as she could politely shovel in her face. She kept him trotting after her like a puppy, doing her best to keep him at arm's length without letting him realize it's what she was doing.

And then she spotted Senator Rendal. One of the few men that had true power. She backed away Tyren flirtatiously, making a point of running into Rendal. She turned around, pretending to be surprised. She brightened. "Senator Rendal! What a pleasant surprise!"

"Rana! My dear!" He answered brightly. He glanced at Tyren, who deflated a bit, and then wrapped his arm around Rana's shoulders and tugged her away. "Come, let's catch up!"

Just as they were about to reach the exit, a bellowing voice called out, "Robert! It's been too long, my friend!"

Senator Garvey turned towards the voice, and his entire body relaxed when he saw the jovial but relatively powerless Senator Jentel approaching them. "Don, my old friend," he said, grabbing Jentel's shoulders and examining him at arm's length. "You haven't aged a day!"

Kris suppressed a groan. So close, yet so far. It was time to go fishing again.

Yet another hand on her thigh.

She trotted along next to Rendal until he sat in a large white over-stuffed chair and patted the arm to invite her to sit. Instead, she giggled and settled down on his knee, wrapping her right arm around his shoulder as she hooked her legs across his and took a sip of her wine.

He wrapped his arm around her back, then hooked his right hand around her knees, keeping her from slipping off his lap. He stared at her jaw. She watched his hungry gaze as took the drink.

"How have you been, sweetie?"

Sweetie. She could gag. She suddenly felt like a child sitting on Santa's lap, begging for food instead of toys.

"Oh, I'm alright I guess," she answered, leaning her head a bit closer to his shoulder. "How are you?"

"Just alright?" he asked, hand creeping up her thigh.

"I'm just a little worried for my family is all," she pouted a bit, making her eyes as wide and innocent as she could, even though his gaze watched his own hand on her leg. "You know how it is."

She was certain he didn't.

"Mm, I'm sorry to hear that," he answered, tensing a bit.

"It's alright, I'm glad to be here with you now." She curled into him, resting her head on his shoulder. "I always know you'll take care of me."

Kris scanned the room for another target. She spotted Rana cuddled up on the lap of a senator triple her age, and her stomach twisted. The way these men looked at women disgusted her, and to know that they got away with that behavior disgusted her even more.

Her gaze landed on the wife of a powerful senator, sitting alone at a table and munching on some shrimps. She paused to consider for a moment, then walked towards the table. It was an unconventional tactic, but it just might work.

Rendal was even handsier than Tyren, and it took ever speck of self control she had not to throat punch him. Instead, she crossed her legs and tightened her thighs as he traced one finger up the length of her leg.

“You know I always do, kitten,” he cooed.

Rana swallowed down her disgust, both at his words and also the response she knew he wanted. Somehow, this part bothered her far more than their hands did. “Yes, Papa.”

There were a few moments of silence between them. “Are you eating well, outside these events?”

She shyly snuggled into his chest a bit more, pretending that she was too embarrassed to answer. In reality, she got... enough. But her friends didn’t. Their families. Everyone else who deserved to eat just as much as any senator did.

“Mmm... you know what? Papa's gonna help you. You like that baby girl?”

Kris grabbed a plate of shrimp from one of the passing waiters and balanced it delicately on her hand, in the most feminine fashion. She reached the table and cleared her throat. "Excuse me. May I sit?" She asked, gesturing to the empty chair.

Senator Tiggley's wife looked up, eyes wide, and then nodded, covering her mouth with her hand. "Yes, of course," she said through a mouthful of shrimp, then blushing. "Please forgive me. This is not very delicate of me."

Kris smiled. "No need to apologize. I can't keep up with all the expectations for women at these events myself. What kind of woman would I be if I judged you for it?"

Senator Tiggley's wife's eyes softened, and a slight smile spread across her face. She wiped her hands and face on a napkin and extended her hand. "I'm Anna. Senator Tiggley's wife."

No. She didn’t. She didn’t like it at all and she wanted to scream in his face that she didn’t. Instead she pressed her hand against his chest. “Yes, Papa.”

“Remind me how many siblings you have?”

“There’s six of us, Papa.”

“Ugh. Breeders.”

Rana didn’t respond. She *almost* agreed — it was unfathomable how many people had children when they were already starving themselves. But, also. That was none of her business. And it wasn’t Rendal’s either.

Besides, she was lying anyway. She only had one sister, and she hadn’t spoken to her in years because she decided to go get married off to an elite. Her Mama was already as well taken care of as Rana could possibly manage. And her Father... well, she didn’t know where he was. But that bastard could go starve for all she cared.

“Here...” Rendal finally took his hand off her leg to reach into his jacket pocket, then pulled out a few vouchers. “These should get you at least a month’s worth of food for you and your family.”

“Thank you, Papa!” she cried, throwing her arms around him in a hug.

“Any thing for my baby girl,” he cooed, pulling her even closer.

She took the vouchers from him and looked down at them, trying to look as admiring as possible. “Where... where can I use these?”

Kris took her hand. "It's a pleasure to meet you. I'm Kris, Senator Nelson's goddaughter."

"You had to come to this event for a godfather? I pity you. The only reason I'm here is because of my husband." Anna giggled and took a long sip of wine.

Kris forced a laugh. "No, I actually came because I'm studying political science and wanted an opportunity to network and maybe get a chance to learn some more about the current system."

Anna's eyes brightened. "It's such a relief to find a young person who actually has goals and aspirations. Tell me, what sparked your interest in economics?"

Rana glanced across the room and saw Kris giving another woman a fake smile. I swear to god if she gets more information that way than I'm getting...

"There's a shipment going out of the warehouse on Umni Avenue, tomorrow, 2 pm. Just get there a bit before and they can let you in to get whatever you need for your family."

"Thank you, Papa." She rested her hand on his chest again. "You're so kind to me."

Kris pretended to think. "Well, I observed a lot of turmoil in the neighborhood I grew up in. I saw a lot of shortages and the violence that came out of that. I began to wonder what I could do to fix the problems that I saw around me. So, I decided to learn what I could do to create a more abundant supply, which includes restructuring our current system."

Anna quirked an eyebrow. "I see. Why do you think we need a structural overhaul?"

Kris shrugged. "It just seems that there's so much waste with our current system. I don't see any way to achieve equality without complete redistribution."

She smirked at the look of anxiety on Anna's face.

"I take care of my girls," he murmured.

She didn't even want to know what he meant by that. And she didn't point out that she was not 'one of his girls' -- whatever that meant. She flirted for food. That was it. And food she didn't even plan to consume.

"Yes, Papa," she answered, then she stretched. "I think they have brownies over there..." she giggled. "Sounds so nice, don't you think?"

"Surely that's a slightly extreme reaction?" Anna suggested.

Kris shrugged. "I see no other way forward. I have every reason to believe that the current distribution system is broken and must be overhauled in order to serve the needs of everyone. I hate calling for something as drastic as a revolution, but it seems like that is what must be done."

"A revolution?" Anna repeated incredulously.

She took the bait. "Yes, there have been whispers of it in my neighborhood, and I won't lie, I think it's imminent."

Anna sucked in a deep breath and drummed her fingers on the table. "What if you could see where and how the resources are stored? Would that sway your opinion?"

"You're already too sweet," he flirted.

"You're so silly," Rana giggled, swatting his chest playfully as she climbed off his lap. "I'll be back in just a minute, Papa."

She turned around and her face instantly, eyes rolling as she took a deep breath. She was already exhausted, and it'd been no more than an hour. She took a glass of wine off of one of the server's platters and down the whole thing as she walked over the refreshments and loaded down a plate with the best cheeses and pastries she could find, eyes wandering around the crowd for her next target.

Kris tilted her head to the side. "I suppose it might," she conceded. "You're certain you can make this happen?"

Anna scoffed. "Please. My husband will give me almost anything I want, if I make it worth his while," she said with a wink.

Kris forced a laugh. "I truly appreciate it," she said.

Anna smiled softly, then twisted in her chair. "Malcolm!" she shouted. "Get over here!"