Page 36 of Keeping Sarah

Omen turned to Sarah and knelt, bowing her head. “It is so good to have you back, my queen.”

“Stop kneeling,” Sarah said, looking flustered by the show of adoration. “I told you before to just call me Sarah. No more pomp, okay, Omen?”

Omen stood and the corners of her mouth tugged upward. “I’ll try.”

The other conduits stood from their kneeling position, as well. I hadn’t noticed they were in the hall. Sarah was surprised to see them, too. “You came for me?”

“You are our queen,” Abyss said, coming forward. “I am ashamed of the sisters who did not come with us.”

But Sarah shook her head. “Do not be ashamed of them. This is a new world with big changes. It’s okay to hesitate and think things through sometimes.” Then she yawned and turned to me. “I need a nap.”

I smiled at her. “Go to my quarters. You and Deacon can get some food and sleep. I’ll drive.”

“Can’t anyone else drive?” she asked. “You need food and a nap, too.”

“I don’t let anyone else driveSovereign. Not when I can help it. Go on, now.”

She kissed me, causing the three conduits to startle and gasp. Then Deacon did the same, before they left for my quarters.

Abyss grinned and said, “Big changes indeed.”

I chuckled on my way to the cockpit. I’d always thought it was a shame that Ladrians weren’t in the habit of kissing. I had learned it from humans on my scouting missions to Earth. The first time I had kissed a Ladrian, she thought I was trying to consume her face. It just wasn’t done in our culture. Even Deacon was initially weirded out when he told me Sarah had shown him kissing.

I laughed at the memory of when his voice cracked when he said, “Her tongue was in my mouth!”

Treg sat in the passenger seat next to my pilot chair, firing up the engines for me. “All good, scrubbers have been repaired.”

I gave him a teasing smile. “Thank you. Ready to stop being a saint?”

He chuckled, which sent his gelatinous body jiggling. “I don’t think anyone has ever accused me of being one of those before. Tiger is far more creative than I ever gave him credit for.”

I nodded in agreement while I flipped the driver switches and got us into the air. “Part of me wonders if having Kapok on board…stifled him somehow.”

“Because Kapok always took charge?”

I nodded. “Hewashis senior officer.”

Treg laughed. “He would have smacked the taste out of your mouth for that lofty title.”

“Yeah, he would have.” I missed my old friend, and a small amount of grief passed through me at his senseless death. “No one has heard from his ghost yet, have they?”

“No,” he said with a sigh. “But who knows? Maybe his was already taken to the ether. It can happen that fast, I’ve heard.”

We cruised through the city of Faithless and found the gates already open for us. “If anyone needed some time to contemplate life, it was Kapok. I can’t imagine the ether thought he was ready to be reborn any time soon.”

“True enough,” Treg said somberly.

I cast a glance in his direction. “So, are you in the cockpit for a reason other than ship updates?”

Treg took a breath and held it for a beat, before he blurted, “I’ve been thinking about asking Ode to unite with me.”

I laughed. “It’s about damn time.” Once we cleared the gates, I pushed the lever to lift the ship over the forest.

“Do you think she’ll say yes?” Treg asked hopefully.

“Ode Hrimp is…she’s a unique woman,” I said, setting the navigation toward Halla. “I’ve known her for years and just when I think I’ve got her figured out, she surprises the shit out of me. So, to be honest, I can’t say. What I can tell you is that she’s young and she likes keeping her options open. But I’ve never seen her as happy as I’ve seen her with you.”

He took a deep breath, his expression nervous. “I don’t know…I know interspecies unions are frowned on in Orhon and it would damage her social standing—"

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