“After fire and the wheel, the next great asset of humanity is the dyr.”

― Sweyn Nielsen, “The Dyr, the Wheel and Proto-Vinleaf-Rhixnun: How Dyr Riders Shaped the Modern World”

Asteria

“Excuse me. I’ll see you later,” I said to the others.

I could hear the guests murmuring to each other as I left the room.

“She’s been summoned.”

“By Magnus? Or Madam?”

“I’ve seen her with the Stovring.”

“It’s Magnus’ mystery friend.”

The Lifer escorted me to the Green Room, a lavishly appointed suite with green and gold wallpaper. Magnus, looking tired and put upon, was surrounded by Lifers who were doing his hair and offering him various articles of clothing. I sat down on a sofa and we talked as Magnus changed into full evening dress behind a screen.

“What’s this I hear about you giving away all your money to charity?” Magnus went on the attack immediately, without even exchanging greetings first. He sounded irritated.

“Nonsense. I’m doing no such thing,” I said.

“Then why did you pledge one hundred million credits to that charity you set up?”

“Please, Magnus, I’m sure you know more than I do about investments. I pledged one million a year for one hundred years.” The income from the hundred million Magnus had given me was projected to be more than two million each year. “I won’t even touch the principal.”

“I hope you’re going to be sensible about this,” said Magnus. “My mother was not pleased when I told her you hadn’t spent the money on anything but charity.”

“She’s displeased with me? I thought you said she wanted to host my coming-of-age ceremony?”

My eighteenth birthday had been yesterday. Birthdays weren’t celebrated in this world except for the eighteenth. That was when a child came of age and entered the adult world. Magnus’ coming-of-age ceremony had been exceedingly lavish.

I was planning a fun, informal glow party with Sariel to celebrate. The formal ceremony involved a priest’s blessing and the presentation of shoes to the child by a member of the older generation. Thus, Magnus’ mother had offered to hold a simple, private ceremony for me in her house. I’d only met her once before, but Magnus said she had insisted on it, knowing that I was an orphan with no family.

“She does. This a separate matter,” said Magnus.

“Living on the income is the responsible thing to do. The bit I put into charity isn’t my entire fortune,” I said. “I have plans for the money. I just couldn’t use it since I wasn’t of legal age yet. You know any contracts I sign wouldn’t be valid until I’m eighteen.”

“I could have helped you with that.” Magnus emerged from behind the screen to scowl at me. He sat on the sofa opposite me, and a Lifer helped him put on his shoes.

“Oh my gosh, you’re done?” I said. “Life is so unfair. It took me ten hours to get ready.”

“Hmm? You look great,” he said. He looked me over. “Why aren’t you wearing makeup?”

Magnus gestured at a Lifer, but I held a hand up to stop him. “I’m wearing makeup. This is the new ‘natural’ look.”

“If you say so. Tell me about this charity,” said Magnus.

“Okay. When I was a child, I had trouble going to the town school. You remember what I said about my mother?” I said.

Magnus nodded.

I continued, “She was fine with everyday routine things, but getting me ready for school was beyond her. I remember I could never start school on time because I never had the right shoes. Or a school bag. Or notebooks. Or a dozen other things I needed.”

“Ah,” said Magnus. He looked thoughtful.

I propped my head in my hand, elbow on the arm of the sofa. “That’s why I was homeschooled. The teachers gave me a packet for me to work on every week and checked up on me occasionally.”

“You must be a natural genius,” said Magnus. “Despite all that, you’ve turned out so well. Ms. Lily even praises your violin skills.”

“I do my best. My experience in Lieceni is what made me decide to help the people in East Thuesen. I’ve heard from the local news that many students in East Thuesen Elementary School struggle to put together the basic school necessities. Seventy percent of all families in that district live below the poverty line.”

“I’m aware of the statistics,” said Magnus. He was listening to me intently.

“I’d like to sponsor each student. They’ll receive uniforms, shoes, school bags, and school supplies. With one thousand two hundred students enrolled in elementary and high school, I can use around six hundred credits on each. The rest will go to administrative costs.”

“That’s vastly underestimating administrative costs,” said Magnus. He shook his head. “I’ll have my men look the paperwork over to check that everything’s in order. Why the name Holck-Guldberg?”

“I just picked two names at random. I prefer to remain low-key. No one needs to know that I’m the only person funding the charity.”

I had spoken the truth, but I also had another motive. Working as a part-time employee of the Brew Crew Cafe wasn’t going to cut it anymore. I needed an excuse to travel around the continent. As a junior administrative coordinator of the Holck-Guldberg Foundation, I’d have the perfect excuse to gallivant around the countryside on various errands such as looking for suppliers or researching similar charity projects.

“Fine. I won’t make a fuss, but you must start spending the money on yourself,” said Magnus.

“I am spending it! Are you coming to my party? I’ve spent quite a lot of money on it,” I said. “It’s going to be epic.”

“You don’t even have a car,” said Magnus. “When my mother found out that you’re still living in that crummy apartment and taking the bus, she raked me over the coals. Said I have to make sure you live in a proper part of the city where you’ll be safe.”

“I have friends in East Thuesen,” I said. I really wanted to stay there, close to Katja’s apartment.

“Then your friends should be happy for you when you move into a better place,” said Magnus. “Did you know that a serial rapist was living across the street from you? He only got caught two days ago.”

“What?” A serial rapist? I shuddered. Maybe Magnus had a point.

“Don’t be stubborn. It’s really not safe for a rich girl like you to live alone in the slums,” said Magnus.

“It’s not the slums! East Thuesen is a working-class neighborhood,” I protested. To a person as wealthy as Magnus, the difference might not be obvious, but it was huge to us. The slums were full of unemployed people and criminals, while the people in my neighborhood had low-paying but respectable jobs.

“Does your apartment building have any security?” asked Magnus.

He obviously already knew the answer. I sighed. “Can we not argue about that tonight? It’s my coming-of-age. I want to enjoy it.”

Magnus shook his head at me, but the expression on his face softened. “Alright. One last thing. Don’t refuse mother’s gifts tonight.”

“What?”

“You can refuse once to show humility, but that’s it. Don’t refuse twice. I don’t want her to be embarrassed in public. If there’s a problem, I’ll handle it later, discreetly,” said Magnus.

“Okay.” I mean, she was his mom, not mine. Let him handle her. I hoped she wouldn’t give me anything too outrageous.

A Lifer entered the room after knocking once. “Young master, the Madam is waiting at the music room.”