Orion's Fall

by Cheree Alsop

  “You’ve broken three of them,” I told him. “But they’re displaced. They won’t heal that way.”

  I knew nothing about medicine, but the sight of three jagged bones offset was definitely a problem.

  “Can you fix them?” the man asked. Exhaustion showed in his voice when he said, “They’re downright killing me. If I don’t get some sleep, I’m liable to fall off the mast given a jolt of a breeze.”

  Uncertainty filled me. I glanced at Joss. “I’ve never done anything like this before.”

  There was confidence in his gaze that bolstered me when he said, “It can’t hurt to try. Mason’s been down for days. Tell me what you need.”

  At my instructions, the young man was soon on his side on the table. Joss held Mason’s arm over his head while a woman with dark hair helped on my other side. Members of the crew steadied their comrade, their gazes anxious. It was obvious they cared about Mason like family instead of just a crew member on a ship.

  “I’ll try to make this quick,” I told him with an attempt to keep the uncertainty I felt out of my voice. “Just hold still.”

  “I’ll try,” Mason said, his voice tight with the pain of the position.

  I lifted my hands to his ribs. My fingers shook, betraying my nervousness. I lowered my hands to the breaks I could see beneath the skin.

  “I need you to take a deep breath,” I told Mason. I glanced at the woman on my right. “At the same time, I need you to help ease him to the right while Joss holds his upper half still.”

  “Got it,” the woman said.

  Mason sucked in a breath. The woman did as I instructed and pushed his lower half to the side while Joss restrained the rest. The movement opened up Mason’s ribs just enough that there was room to work. I felt him wince as I eased the bones into place, but the moment the ends met, he relaxed visibly. I grabbed the ends of the wrappings I had placed beneath him and tied them firmly over the newly aligned ribs.

  “You can let him go,” I told the others.

  I watched closely as they eased him back to his original position. The ribs moved, but didn’t separate. Mason sat up gingerly, then took a testing breath.

  He turned to me with wide eyes. “That feels so much better! How did you do that?”

  I shrugged uncomfortably at the looks of awe on the faces around me; at least it was better than the fear of before. “I just put the bones where they needed to be.”

  Mason rose. His actions were careful, but less tentative than before. “Thank you. That feels ninety percent better.”

  “I’m glad I could help,” I told him.

  Joss clapped my shoulder with a grin. “You’re going to give Doc a run for her position.”

  I shook my head quickly. “Don’t mention it to her.” At his surprised look, I admitted, “She terrifies me.”

  That brought a loud, raucous laugh from the man. “Trust me, we all feel the same way.”

  Chapter Eleven

  Zyla

  Zyla followed the sound of laughter to the galley. She paused at the doorway and watched as the crew shared drinks with Orion. Joss’ acceptance was a real surprise to her. The man was usually quiet and kept to himself with the stoic demeanor of a true leader. He never bowed under pressure and was the first to race into battle. His gambling habits were known, but after a game, he was often found back on deck checking the rigging and ensuring that the crew was on task. Uncle Dawes had mentioned that he was a quick runner-up for Hayes’ position as first mate.

  Seeing him in the galley joking with Orion struck a chord in Zyla. She knew Orion was lost in many more ways than even she, but perhaps he had found something resembling a bit of family in the Circinus crew.

  “Zyla, come join us!” Coralay called out.

  “Yeah, we’re celebrating,” Barnaby said. He lofted one of the mugs he had made out of random parts from repairing the Circinus’ orb-powered engine.

  Orion’s eyes immediately focused on Zyla and a smile spread across his face. Her heart gave a strange flutter at the look and she couldn’t help but be drawn to him. He looked rested for the first time since they’d met. The shadows under his eyes were gone and the bruises were far less noticeable. By the way he carried himself, she could tell that his ribs still bothered him, but he made no outward show of the pain.

  He didn’t wear the goggles, but his eyes weren’t glowing as bright. She wondered if he had found a way to dim the brilliance. As she approached the welcoming crowd at the table, it took some effort to tear her gaze away from his, especially with his warm smile. She finally forced her attention to Coralay.

  “What are we celebrating?”

  The woman moved her chair to make room for the one Seamus carried for Zyla. “That Orion helped mend Mason’s ribs.”

  Zyla turned her surprised gaze on Orion. “I didn’t know you were a healer.”

  He lifted a shoulder. “I’m not. They just helped me figure out how to use my eyes.”

  Zyla wanted to ask what he meant, but at that moment, a horn sounded with one short blast and two long ones.

  “All hands on deck,” Joss said. He set down his mug. “Thanks for the hospitality, Seamus.”

  The rest of the crew followed.

  “Be careful up there,” the cook replied as he scooped up the goblets.

  “Can we be there already?” Coralay asked on their way up.

  “Maybe,” Jemima answered. “We’ve had clear skies and a good wind current.”

  Orion fell in behind Zyla. She glanced back and saw him watching her.

  “Anything I should expect at the Gathering?” he asked.

  She nodded. “Expect it to be bigger than you’re thinking.” Memories flashed through her mind. It had been a very long time since her last Gathering, but events hadn’t gone well. She shook her head to clear them, but her expression remained troubled when she told him, “And unsavory people. It’s not exactly the safest place to be.”

  “So why are we going?” Orion asked. His smile looked forced when he said, “Besides the whole lead everyone into battle thing.”

  Zyla’s breath caught at the uncomfortable look on his face. It was obvious how much they were putting on his shoulders, and how he felt he wasn’t fit to be relied on, but she had seen him fight. She would stand beside him to her death if she had to, and she knew the rest of the Circinus crew would as well. Yet his unease at the task he had stepped up to showed in the crease of his brow and the way his jaw clenched and unclenched. It made him look boyish and uncertain.

  She cleared her throat and said, “We need to win over the Revolters.” She flashed him a smile. “It sounds ridiculous, I know, but if we’re going to lead the Revolters to battle, we have to get them on your side. A Gathering is the best way to reach them.”

  “Zyla, you’re scared. I need to know why.”

  Orion’s gentle words made Zyla stop walking. The rest of the crew had gone on ahead to prepare for docking. They were the only two left in the hallway.

  Zyla closed her eyes for a moment, then opened them and turned to face him. “My father’s failure affected many people. They’ll be out for my head. Becoming a branded wasn’t just a punishment, it saved my life.” She lowered her gaze. “Rallying supporters and attacking the Orion took money and supplies we didn’t have. My dad left some big debts. I’m not naïve enough to think they’ll be forgotten.”

  “Stay on the Circinus,” Orion urged, crossing to her. “Let me go with Captain Dawes. Stay where you’re safe.”

  She put her hand on his chest to keep him from coming any closer. “There’s no way I’m letting you go alone. I don’t know how to explain it. I just…I just feel like if I let you go, I may never see you again.” Her voice faltered and she finished quietly, “And I can’t help the fear that fills me when I think of that.”

  Orion was quiet for the space of several heartbeats. When he did speak, his voice was as quiet as hers had been. “You feel like we’re meant to be together.”

  She nodde
d and looked up at him. Fear that he would laugh at her or reject her made her want to keep the words inside, but the understanding in his gaze brought them to her lips before she realized she was saying them aloud. “I’ve felt like that since the moment I saw you in the cage. I couldn’t leave you there. It’s like…it’s like I was meant to save you.” She looked at a point near his left foot, refusing to read the expression on his face. “I can’t bear the thought of you walking away.”

  “Because it would tear you in half?”

  The gentleness of his voice made Zyla glanced back up. The blue of Orion’s gaze flickered as he looked down at her. There was an intensity to his expression she had seen a few times when she caught him watching her. It looked as though he thought of her as a puzzle he couldn’t figure out. His expression captivated and unnerved her at the same time. From the short distance between them, it was enough to make sparrows dance in her stomach.

  “Zyla, I—” Orion shook his head, dropped his gaze, then swallowed and put his hands on her arms.

  The touch of his fingers against her skin sent flashes of heat through her arms. It surprised her and made her knees weak at the same time.

  His voice was close to desperate when he said, “Zyla, I don’t know what this is. I’m lost, stranded, abandoned, forgotten, and who knows what else.” He shook his head. “I’m probably crazy. You should walk away and not look back, or I should do it for you and end this chaos I’ve brought into your life.”

  He closed his eyes, but didn’t let go of her arms. She had the distinct impression she was supporting him as much as he was doing the same for her. The agony in his voice and his expression hid nothing of the loneliness in his gaze when he opened his eyes again. She wanted to say something to reassure him; yet she waited because she felt as though he needed the moment to process what he wanted to say.

  “But I can’t,” he finally admitted with such pain in his voice that it nearly broke her heart. “There’s something that keeps me here with you. I don’t know what it is, and I shouldn’t ask such things of you.”

  Zyla had to swallow past the knot of emotion that had tightened in her throat. “I feel the same way.”

  He stared down at her. “You do?”

  She fought back the strange urge to smile at the way his words came out in a strangled whisper as if what she said was more than he could hope for. “I do,” she reassured him. “I’ve felt it since the moment I freed you. It’s as if we have to be here together.”

  Orion lowered his hands and Zyla immediately regretted her choice of words. She sighed and said, “It’s hard to explain. It’s like, if we want to make a difference….”

  “We need to stick together,” Orion finished.

  Zyla nodded.

  Orion gave her a half-smile that faded. “I remembered something from my past.”

  “What is it?” Zyla pressed. She wondered if the answer to their strange connection lay in his memory instead of her dreams. Perhaps it would be safer for her that way.

  Orion looked at the wood paneling past her shoulder as he thought back. The goggles around his neck reflected the orb-powered light from the lamps above. “I’m not here, I know that now,” he began. His eyebrows drew together and his gaze flitted to hers. “I mean, in this time. It doesn’t really make sense, but it does if you see it.” He lifted a hand and rubbed his eyes. “I’m not sure I can explain it.”

  Zyla caught his hand and lowered it, but didn’t let it go. “Try,” she told him. “Maybe saying it out loud will help.”

  Orion nodded, but it was a few minutes before he began. When he did, his voice was soft. “There are arrows, nine of them, sunk into my chest. I’m suffocating.” He closed his eyes, but kept talking. “I’m on a ledge. There’s someone with me. I know her and I see her sorrow, but she can’t stop me. Then I’m falling off the cliff. The last thing I see is her looking down at me with tears on her face.”

  When he fell silent, Zyla asked, “Is there anything else?”

  Orion’s expression became thoughtful. “There’s someone else I remember, a man. I hate him. He has something to do with the reason I was shot.” He opened his eyes and looked at her. “I didn’t remember him before. Telling you brought it back.”

  “I’m glad,” she said. “But what does it mean?”

  “I’m not sure,” he replied. “But it’s a memory, not a dream. I know that.” He put a hand to his chest. “I feel the arrows and the sensation of suffocating, and I know I experienced it.” His gaze was haunted when he looked back at her and said, “Zyla, I think I died.”

  Zyla had expected him to say anything but that. She opened her mouth to tell him something reassuring, then closed it again when nothing came out.

  Orion lowered his hand from his chest as if just realizing it was there. “I’m sorry. I shouldn’t say that. It was just a thought.” He turned to head up the steps.

  “No,” she replied, grabbing his arm. “Don’t do that. You don’t have to pretend around me.”

  He looked back down at her with darkness in his gaze. “Zyla, I’m a mess.”

  She refused to be cowed by the heaviness of his tone. “Me, too. Why do you think we found each other? You think the universe goes about throwing two perfect people together with nothing happening in their lives? What would be the adventure in that?”

  She held his gaze until a reluctant smile crossed his lips. “There’d be no adventure.”

  “Exactly,” she replied. “And that would be way too boring. We, on the other hand, are dealing with dirty Stashers, death threats, sea monsters, and the chance to bring down a tyrannical king who wants to watch the world burn.”

  Humor showed in Orion’s gaze when he replied, “Is that all?”

  She nodded, her expression feigning teasing innocence when she said, “So what’s a little death and destruction mixed in?”

  That brought a true laugh from him. “Nothing, I supposed.”

  She gave him the biggest smile. “That’s right. So let’s go to this Gathering, rally the Revolters, and do the very little task of making the Orion fall for real.”

  Orion shook his head with a smile to match hers. “I’m in.”

  She looked up at him, at the way his hair swept across his forehead, the muscles of his arms standing out as he held himself up on the first step with a hand on either side of the hall, and the way the sunlight from the open door rested on his shoulders like a glistening cloak, and she knew at that moment that her heart was irrevocably, irretrievably lost to him.

  Unaware of her thoughts, he turned and went up the stairs. “Stick close to me and I’ll protect you from the people who want to collect your father’s debt,” he said over his shoulder.

  “Right,” she said.

  It took her a moment to collect her thoughts. She used the time to go back to her room and change into one of the dresses she had brought from the Stasher. By the time she reached the main deck, they were already docked. The sight of the hundreds of ships tied together around the main Class Five Gathering Ship Vienna took her breath away like it always did. She spotted Orion helping Seamus carry boxes to the dock for bartering. Though Orion didn’t gawk at the enormity of the Gathering like a newcomer normally would, it was obvious by the looks he threw the vast array of ships around them that he was feeling a bit overwhelmed.

  Hundreds of men and women hustled down the long strips of planking the ships anchored to that then became walkways from the crafts to the Vienna. Everywhere she looked, merchants hawked their wares and tried to cajole passersby onto their ships to check out what they had to offer. The main bartering would take place on the Gathering ship, but if anyone could get a bargain beforehand and avoid the hefty twenty-percent tax charged by the Vienna, they would gladly do so.

  Uncle Demetri was busy going over papers with a man in the blue cloak of a Gathering official, no doubt signing them in and paying for their docking fees.

  “Solariat crew members only?” she heard the official ask.
/>   “Of course,” Demetri replied. “Feel free to check.”

  “Enforcers are on hand,” the official told him. “We just want to keep things civil.”

  Zyla’s newly branded hand ached in response. At least the salve Doc had given them had lessened the pain and sped up the healing process considerably. When she glanced at her hand, she could barely see the red of a new brand.

  Satisfied, she turned her attention to their surroundings. A huge Class Five Grower was docked on their port side while a Solariat Ranger took up the space on the starboard. The sound and smell of cattle roaming the grass deck of the Ranger warred with the picking machinery of the Grower. They had apparently timed it perfectly to have freshly harvested corn for the Gathering.

  “I recognize that smell,” Orion said, reaching her side with a wry smile.

  She laughed. “Maybe you grew up on a Ranger.”

  He grimaced. “I sure hope not. I’d probably jump overboard.”

  That brought another laugh from her. “Come on, cowboy. Let’s see if we can find a lead.”

  He followed her to the plank that lead to the walkway. She waved at her uncle on her way past. He lifted a hand, then turned his attention back the forms.

  Zyla felt the reassuring weight of the blade she had strapped to her thigh beneath the green and black ruffles of the dress she wore.

  Orion paused with one foot on the plank and the other looking between the slats at the sea far below. She couldn’t remember the last time she had looked down like that. Being in the sky for a lifetime took away the fear of falling. It was interesting because she knew shipmates who dreaded lookout duty from the crow’s nest out of fear of heights, but they could walk the deck of the ship all day and not worry about the sea so many leagues below. It was a strange contradiction.

  “I’d say don’t look down, but it’s too late.”

  He looked up at her voice and gave a self-deprecating smile. “Not much of a sailor if the view makes my stomach feel like losing its contents.”

  Zyla followed his line of sight. Small tendrils of clouds drifted between the Circinus and the sea.