by Jaleta Clegg
I quit paying attention to where we were going when Mayguena hauled us off to parties. It didn't really matter. I did what I was told. I slipped into the gardens and found the slaves when I could. The houses and the plants and the Trythians weren't important. They all blurred together in my mind anyway.
"Your aunt invited you to visit," Mayguena told Lilliasa one afternoon. "She wishes to congratulate you on your wedding."
"Just like everyone else," Lilliasa complained. "Can't I claim to be ill for a week? Or a month?"
"Your aunt Sylena invited you."
Lilliasa quit frowning. She smiled. "We should give her something grand."
"Like an addition to her fountain garden?" I didn't like Mayguena's smile. It had too many sharp edges. I wondered what she was up to this time.
They both shot looks at me.
"Perfect," Lilliasa said. "Pack enough clothing for a week. I'll make the arrangements."
I ducked my head and started searching her closet.
"You've been too quiet," Mayguena said as we packed.
I shrugged. "I still don't like your plan." I carefully folded a fluttery dress of silver and pink into the case.
"Because it puts your people in danger?" Mayguena handed me a pair of slippers to match the dress. "We're all in danger. And you agreed to help. For the price of rescuing your people."
"And you'll keep your word," I said.
"Of course."
I didn't trust her, but I said nothing.
We finished packing after Lilliasa came back. And then it was a whirl of hauling luggage and Shadita and her paraphernalia out to the landing pad. The flyer waiting for us there was a different one than we normally took. It was larger, much larger.
I opened the luggage compartment at the back. It was a good sized room. The luggage was stacked along one wall and securely tied in. Mayguena handed Shadita to me.
"You will ride back here, with her," she said. I wasn't sure if she was talking to me or the animal. Not that it mattered. "It will be a long flight.
I nodded, wondering what her motivation was this time. I stepped into the luggage compartment. There was a raised bench across one end that was at least padded.
The hatch darkened as someone else stepped in. They shut the door behind him. The lights cut to a very dim level. Tayvis looked around the compartment then shook his head.
"First class accommodations," he said as he sat next to me on the bench.
The engines started up. Vibrations shook the ship as it jumped into the sky. Shadita cheeped nervously until the motion settled down. I put her into her traveling case and latched the door. She tucked her head under her front paws and went to sleep.
"You don't talk to me anymore?" Tayvis asked.
"I don't know what to say."
His eyes followed every move I made as I sat on the bench.
"If they aren't beating you, what are they doing?" he asked.
"I see they've given you more clothes," I said. He wore a sleeveless tunic and long pants, a big improvement over the short robe most slaves wore.
"I convinced them I had delicate skin. You're avoiding me."
"Because Mayguena is probably listening to every word," I said, using the language of Dadilan. I was reasonably certain we were the only two people within a hundred light years who understood it.
He raised one eyebrow.
"Do you have any idea how annoying that is?" I snapped, still using the Dadilan language.
He grinned. I couldn't stay upset. I let out a long sigh.
"You ready to talk now?" he asked, using the same language. "What do you suspect?"
"I don't trust Mayguena to keep her word."
"What's she planning?"
"She wants to blow up the chamber and all the alpha males at High Festival."
"A revolution or civil war? Does she have any support for this?"
"She's been contacting women for six weeks now. That's the whole reason behind all the parties and trips."
He didn't look happy. "A handful of pampered women from the upper classes trying to start a revolution. It isn't going to work. I've seen the lower classes, heard them talking. They're fairly content with their lives. They'll fight to keep things the way they are."
"Mayguena wants them to stir up trouble that night. I've been contacting slaves, giving them keys to the collars and instructions to run for the hills when Festival starts."
"Dace, why are you doing this?"
"Because she promised to let all the human slaves go free when she succeeds. And because I couldn't find a way to say no. I don't like it, Tayvis, but I couldn't see any other way." I hated the whine that crept into my voice.
"Then we find a way to make sure her plan either works or we have another one in place." He reached across the space between us and took my hand, squeezing it.
"This is worse than Dadilan," I said.
"We'll get out somehow. I trust your luck to do that."
"What if I've used it all up?"
He put his arm around my shoulder and pulled me next to him. He leaned against the wall of the compartment. I lay my head on his shoulder, content for the moment. He made me feel safe.
"Tell me about her plans." He kept his voice low, still speaking the Dadilan language.
I told him everything I'd heard and guessed. He asked questions, probing for more information. I had learned more than I thought. I gave him a complete report on what I'd done, who I'd contacted, what I'd heard Mayguena say. I told him Mayguena's reasons for wanting to change things.
"It's personal with them then," he said when I finished. "A whole society based on genetic matching and they want to change it."
"Not really. They just want to be the ones to say which genes are desirable. I don't think they want to change more than who's in charge. Things will stay the same. I don't trust Mayguena to keep her word and let us go."
"Or she'll tell us we're free and turn us out to figure out how to survive on our own," he said. "With nothing but our wits."
"So what can we do?"
"What do you know about High Festival?"
"It's a meeting once a year. Everyone from the upper classes has to be there. It's where they announce who's marrying whom and if they are allowed to have children. There's some kind of meeting for all the men, where they decide who gets to be the Triad and what their standing is in the Electoriate. Mayguena didn't know the details. No one does who isn't invited to attend. She's planning on doing something to kill them all during that meeting."
"Where do they hold the Festival?"
"I think it's at their space port."
"And what have you told the slaves to do?"
"Run to the hills and hide, join up with others. Mayguena wanted me to tell them to attack, but I won't do that. They'll be killed. The only ones with weapons on this world are the alpha men."
"And after they run away? Then what?"
"I don't know. I never took civil war planning at the Academy. I never took a lot of classes. I never thought I'd need them. How many pilots end up planning a counterrevolution and guerilla warfare?"
"As far as I know, you're the only one. And you're doing fine, Dace."
I braced myself up on my elbow to look at him. "You called me incompetent once."
"I was wrong. You're very competent at getting into trouble and somehow finding your way back out."
"I don't want to be."
"I know."
I studied his face. He looked worse for wear. There were lines around his eyes that hadn't been there before. But his face could still be used on recruitment posters, he was good looking with the strong jaw the Patrol seemed to favor. His hair was getting a bit long, the ends were curling. I knew how it would glint reddish in sunlight. I knew how it felt under my fingers. I loved him and the warmth in his brown eyes. I knew he loved me and I still didn't know why.
"What are you thinking?" he asked, a smile teasing the corner of his mouth.
"I was remembering
you threatening to shoot me." He had, on Dadilan, when I'd first run into him.
He lifted his free hand to brush hair away from my face. "I'm glad I didn't."
"Why were you really out here? Lowell said you were on an Exploration ship."
"Lowell doesn't have the power he thinks he does, not anymore. His networks are mostly dismantled. I was transferred to Exploration mostly to keep me from helping him."
"Don't tell me that," I whispered. "I don't want to know he isn't going to come rescue us." Even though I knew it was true.
"Things are unraveling in the Empire, Dace. I picked up the rumors before they sent me out here. You didn't hear anything?"
"I was keeping as much distance from the Inner Worlds as I could. I was trying to stay out of trouble."
"And it found you anyway."
"Lowell brought me what was left of the Eggstone. I couldn't turn it down. I tried."
I lowered my chin to my arm, laying it across his chest.
He studied my face as intently as I watched his. He smoothed my hair behind my ear with one hand. His other hand was on my back. I was acutely aware of his touch and at the same time it was as if I had always been there, in his arms. If I'd believed in Lady Rina's cards or Larella's auras, I would have said it was fate. We belonged together.
I don't know which of us moved first. It was only a matter of inches between us. He was kissing me and I was kissing him back. I realized how much I'd missed him. And how far I'd come in the last few weeks. I was willing to admit how much I needed him, how much I loved him. And I was willing to grab what few moments we might have together.
Shadita started peeping, her sad abandoned sound.
"Just ignore it," Tayvis said when I shifted away from him.
"I can't. She won't stop until I get her. And if she's unhappy when we land, I'll be in deep trouble with Lilliasa."
I got up, reluctantly, and crossed to Shadita's traveling cage. She was huddled in the bottom, looking miserable. She cheeped at me, accusing me of leaving her all alone.
"Stupid spoiled creature," I muttered as I opened the door to her cage. I sat on the floor next to it and coaxed her out.
She alternated between trying to bite my fingers and snuggling in my lap. She finally settled down, sprawled over my legs. I tried to shift to a more comfortable spot. She snapped at me.
Tayvis laughed, a low chuckle. The dimples in his chin that only showed when he was trying not to smile were very noticeable. I looked down, unable to smile with him. I hated being at the beck and call of a pampered ball of fur with an attitude. I hated being a slave. The weight of the collar around my neck was crushing.
Tayvis moved, kneeling in front of me. He cupped my chin in his hand and lifted my face, waiting until I finally looked at him.
"We'll get out of this," he said, whispering in the language I was sure Mayguena couldn't understand. But speaking it reminded me too much of Dadilan. Three years hadn't been nearly long enough to forget.
I shook my head. Right then, I didn't think I was ever going to get out of anything.
"Remember when you asked me never to walk away from you again?" He shifted his hand to my cheek. "Marry me when we get out of here and I promise never to walk away again."
I felt the color drain from my face. Marry him? Me? Was I dreaming this?
"Don't look at me like that," he said. I saw the vulnerability in his eyes. If I said no, he would shut himself away completely. He loved and trusted as easily as I did, which was not easily at all.
"I love you," I said. "I don't know how well I'd manage as someone's wife."
I could almost see him backing away emotionally from me. The dimples in his chin were gone. I put my hand on his lips, unable to watch the pain in his eyes. I didn't want to hurt him. I wanted to say yes. I didn't know how.
"I'm willing to try if you are," I said.
He waited a long minute, studying my face in the dim light.
"Is that a yes?" he asked finally, his lips moving under my fingers.
"I don't… Maybe."
"Just say it, Dace."
"Yes, Tayvis."
"Yes, what?" He was teasing me.
I leaned forward and kissed him where my hand had been. "I'll marry you if we get out of here."
"When, Dace, not if." He was serious now. "We'll find a way. Somehow."
He kissed me, a promise of a future together, somewhere, under different stars.
We'd forgotten Shadita. She nipped me sharply. I yelped and jumped back from Tayvis. Shadita grumbled.
Tayvis laughed, a sad laugh full of regret and frustration. "This isn't quite what I imagined. I wanted to be there. On Proxima. I wasn't quite sure what to get you. Flowers didn't seem right. I thought about buying you a new engine part, but I don't know what kind to get. Thinking about seeing you was all that kept me going on the Exploration ship. And then this happened. When I saw you here, I didn't know if I should be happy or not." He was babbling. I'd never seen him do that before. He sat on the floor, his knees up, and looked away from me.
"It's almost funny. Lilliasa is starting a war because she has to get married." I shifted Shadita to a more comfortable spot on my leg. She snapped sleepily at my hand. "Tayvis, I don't dare let them know how much you mean to me. Mayguena will use it as a weapon against me. She's ruthless."
"She has little to lose. People like that are the worst to deal with."
I ran my fingers through Shadita's fur. She chirped happily and rolled over so I could scratch her belly. And then yawned, showing me her flat teeth.
"So you aren't mad at me for shooting you?" I kept my eyes down, on Shadita.
"After everything that's happened since, you're still worried about that? I understand why you did it, Dace. And no, I'm not upset. I never was. I was angry at Lowell for getting you involved." He ran his hand through his hair. "Are you still upset over me arresting you?"
"I understand why you did it." I parroted his own words back at him.
He shook his head, and half grinned.
"Do you really mean it, Tayvis? You'll give up the Patrol for me?"
"I'd about given up on the Patrol anyway. You sure you want me on your ship? I don't know how useful I'd be."
"You did all right before. You've flown with me twice before."
"And both times it was in a broken-down wreck that I wouldn't have trusted if I'd had a choice. Do you really enjoy flying like that?"
"It never gets boring. Although I wish it did." I tried to move Shadita. Her eyes popped open and she snapped at my hand.
"It looks like you're stuck for a while," Tayvis said.
"Spoiled, awful, hairy ball of temper," I grumbled.
"How long has it been? I've counted about five months since the Wanderer was attacked."
"You've been here that long?"
"It might be longer, I lost count for a while. Their hyperdrive does things to your mind."
"Tell me about it."
"Explain it to me."
"You want me to give you a lesson on hyperdrive theory?" We'd slipped back into Basic, Dadilan's language didn't have the right words.
"It's something to do. Unless you want to give me more details about how you ended up here." He used the other language. "Or are you ready to come up with an alternate plan?"
"I don't know how. I don't know anything about planning counter-revolutionary wars."
"You know more than you think, Dace." He prodded Shadita. She snored.
I lifted her limp weight and deposited her back in her traveling cage. I stood and stretched out kinked muscles. "How long until we land?"
"You'd know better than I would," Tayvis said.
"Mayguena neglected to tell me."
"So I can think of a good use of the time," Tayvis said. And slowly smiled.
"They're probably watching us, or at least listening."
"Why do you keep running away, Dace?"
"Because I'm nervous and scared and I don't know what I feel."
"It's one reason I love you," he said.
"And what are the others?" I looked up at him.
"You're unexpected. I never know what you're going to do next."
"So what am I going to do now?"
"You're going to kiss me and then you're going to sit over there with me and we're going to figure a way out of here."
"You do so know what I'm going to do next."
The dimple was back in his chin. "I'm glad I didn't lose you completely. I was worried when I first saw you."
"So help me forget where I am and what I'm planning on doing." It was only half teasing. I didn't want to be here. I didn't want to be part of Mayguena's scheming. I did want to be with Tayvis, just not here.
Chapter 25
I fell asleep, lying against him on the low bench. The flight went on and on for hours. Shadita slept through it. I finally stirred when the engine changed pitch. I found myself subconsciously listening for the warning alarms. I came all the way awake and wished I was back in my dreams. The only thing making life bearable was Tayvis, warm and alive and with me. I loved him. He asked me to marry him. I felt strange inside when I thought of that.
The flyer landed with a thump that jarred Shadita awake. She cheeped urgently. I sat up to take care of her. Tayvis pulled me back down and kissed me.
"You promised, Dace," he said. "To marry me."
"And you promised never to walk away from me again."
He kissed me again.
Shadita made louder peeping noises. I couldn't ignore her any longer. The engines of the flyer shut down completely as I reluctantly left Tayvis. I popped the door to Shadita's cage open. She tumbled out, chirping at me.
"Hang in there, Dace. We'll get out somehow," Tayvis said and put his hand on my shoulder.
"One way or another," I agreed.
The door opened. A wave of hot, humid air washed into the stuffy cargo hold. I blinked in sudden bright light. Shadita bolted for the open door. I muttered swear words under my breath as I hurried out after her. I'd forgotten to clip her leash to her collar. She didn't go far, just under the first bush. I watched her relieve herself, shifting uncomfortably myself. It had been a long flight.
