“Such conviction,” muttered Daphne.
“Ibelievethat he’s handsome.”
“Maybe. But you don’t care.”
“I don’t.” It was getting easy—too easy—to admit the truth about how she felt. This was dangerous. Zada buried her face in her hands. Through her fingers, she said plaintively, “What do Ido?”
“There’s plenty of options,” Daphne said. “You can flee New Ionia, never to return—”
“I’m not doing that.”
“You can tell the whole world that you hate Buford Arnoth with a fiery passion—”
“I don’thatehim.”
“Fine, you can tell everyone that you feel lukewarm about Buford Arnoth and don’t wish to marry him—”
“Then I’ll have to join the sisters.” Rejecting your Heartsong match was unheard of. The only exception was if you chose to join the Sisters of Perpetual Reflection, which would mean giving up all nonessential technology, including her triple cello—her heart hurt at the thought of it. And if you chose to break off your Heartsong match any other way, then you went the same way as Iphigenia Fallow—you were Extricated.
And there was the matter of her family. Rejecting Buford would relegate her parents, who’d worked so hard to ensure she had everything, to the social margins. She couldn’t do that to them.
“Or you can prove that your Heartsong match was an error.”
“I can’t do that!”
“Sure you can.”
“It’s—” Zada sputtered. “Treasonous. Seditious behavior. Aviolation of the Civil Order clause of the New Ionian charter.”
“Disagree. You’d be doing a service to the city. You’d be providing valuable data for the Heartsong program.” Daphne grinned. “They might even give you a commendation!”
“Somehow, I can’t picture that,” Zada said. But maybe, just maybe, this was the way forward. If Daphne was right, and it really was possible for Heartsong to get things wrong, then it wouldn’t hurt for her to check whether she was in that tiny minority, right?
“So.” Zada hesitated, not quite believing what she was about to propose. But there was no time for doubts. She was engaged to marry Buford in two months. She barreled on. “Let’s say my Heartsong match was an error. How would I go about finding this out?”
Daphne clapped her hands together. “Simple. We just have to do some digging. Gather some data. You love data.”
“I do,” Zada confirmed.
“If we can prove that there really has been an increased rate of incorrect Heartsong matches, then we can push the council to commission an investigation and place your match under review.” Daphne spread her hands. “And then, voilà! You break off your engagement to Buford, and the two of you can go on your merry, and very separate, ways. You’ll be free to discover your true soulmate and live out the rest of your life in perfect bliss. Rainbows and fireworks and shooting stars, all that bullshit.”
Zada glanced down at the floor, at the recycled laminate peeking through the gaps in the woven rug she’d made in historical arts class. “And if it doesn’t work?”
“It’ll work. And if it doesn’t, there’s worse things than achange of scene, you know.” Daphne leaned forward, a conspiratorial smile on her face. “I’m saying, you leave New Ionia—”
“Yes, I got that,” Zada snapped. “Why do you insist on bringing that up? I could never go, even if I wanted to—and I don’t. You know what it’s like out there. I wouldn’t survive by myself.”
“You wouldn’t be alone. I’d invite myself along. I’ve always wanted to try faking my own death. It sounds like fun.”
“You’d be no help,” Zada huffed. She shook her head. “I can’t believe Flora and Aiden were really prepared to leave.”
“They were desperate.”
“So you say.” Who was she to judge? She was desperate, too. It was the only reason she was entertaining the idea of going against everything she’d been raised to believe in and abide by. The only reason she was willing to consider that the very foundation upon which New Ionia was built might have a few cracks.
But if she found a flaw in the Heartsong program, only good could come of it. New Ionia was all about innovation, about improving upon the past and refining the present until it was the best it could possibly be. She really would be doing a service to the city.
And if she discovered that Buford was truly her match, after all, then she would recommit herself to him and to the life she ought to be leading. She just needed to make sure.
