Page 18 of Star Prince

Cradling the picture in his palms, he admitted, “Frankly I cannot fathom her, or anyVashprincess, for that matter, running away, much less going tothe frontier. You’re certain she went there voluntarily?”

“Quite.” His skepticism had brought a smile to Rom’s lips. “She stole a starspeeder, threatened a lieutenant at gunpoint and launched in the middle of aTjhu’nami.”

Gann whistled, taking a second glance at the holo-image.

Jas said, “Joren’s men found her starspeeder on Donavan’s Blunder…with a cloaker already on board. The cloaker said she had traded her speeder for another and had already left the planet. Who knows if he was telling the truth? Security saw no sign of her, other than the ship.”

“Any communication from her?” Gann asked.

Rom took the holo-image he handed back. “Yesterday her parents received a short message via a multiple-channel encrypted relay. This was in addition to the note she left them before she departed. In both, she said she was safe, that she had gone voluntarily, and that they mustn’t worry. They assume the message was genuine, but they can’t, of course, authenticate the note or tell where it originated…or when it was sent. Dar intelligence is working on it.” Rom pressed his fingertips together and leaned forward. “There’s something else. Ian’s in the frontier too. But he’s undercover. I’ve tried, but I can’t reach him. My messages to him…bounce.”

Gann stared. “Ian’s undercover?” This plot wasbecoming more incredible and more convoluted with each passing minute.

“Not that Ian would know Tee’ah if he saw her,” Jas put in, evidently missing Gann’s reaction to her husband’s statement. “Because of custom, she stayed behind at the palace when the rest of the family traveled here for the wedding. I think she saw holo-images of the ceremony, but Ian’s appearance has changed considerably in seven years. So has hers. I doubt they would recognize each other.”

Gann cleared his throat. “I believe I’m missing something here. Why is Ian undercover?”

“Because I don’t want the Great Council to know he’s there,” Rom explained.

“I see,” Gann said, although he didn’t.

Rom’s sharp glance demanded his discretion. “I’m in somewhat of a quandary regarding the frontier. All I can tell you, so as not to place Ian in danger, is that I require his frontiersman’s perspective to guide me in future decisions on the matter.” Rom appeared to choose his next words with care. “Our realm is growing, changing. We’re settling new worlds farther and farther from the heart of our kingdom. Ian will be the first ruler with direct family ties to both the frontier and the Great Council. People on both sides will look to him for leadership. Yet there are still those who don’t see the wisdom of Ian someday taking the throne. I…want to give him the chance to prove them wrong.”

Rom fell silent before he smiled tiredly andadded, “But you must find our wayward princess.”

Gann assured him, “I’ll have her home before her bed grows cold. Hunk of bread.”

“Hunk of bread?” Jas appeared baffled.

“It’s one of your Earth-dweller expressions, is it not? Used to describe the ease of a particular task?”

Her lips quirked. “You mean, piece of cake.”

“Yes, yes, that’s the one. A princess in the frontier will stand out like an iceberg in the desert. I’ll have her back to the palace in no time. Piece of cake.”

Jas and Rom walked with him to where the screen separated the sitting area from the larger chamber. Embracing his friends in turn, he bade them farewell. Then he swept his travel cloak around himself and strode from the room.

Chapter Six

“I know she overslept,Quin. But seeing that she got us off Blunder and onto Grüma—and we lived through it, I’d say she earned her time in the bunk. But Randall’s already gone, and I want to follow him. The only way we’re going to do that is if she’s rested.”

Sprawled on her stomach, Tee’ah woke to voices in the corridor outside her quarters. The bedsheets were twisted around her bare thighs, pinning her legs in place, and her head hurt too much to move, so she lay there, listening.

TheSun Devilwas on Grüma now, and the thrusters were shut down. It was quiet except for the whispery hum of the air recyclers and the men’s voices.

“A round-trip to Barésh is no quick jaunt.” Recognizing Quin’s voice, she winced into her pillow. “That’s the frontier.”

“Tee can fly; I’ll give her that. But taking a new pilot deep into new territory when we hardly know her…? I don’t know, Captain. I don’t like it. And her drinking—”

“Oh, she won’t be drinking; I guarantee that,” she heard Ian reply before he lowered his voice. She lifted her head, straining to hear. “I’m not about to let her go anywhere unsupervised. I’ll watch her myself, if I have to.”

Heavens. They thought she was wild and reckless and not to be trusted. What a difference from how she had been viewed by others—and herself—for most of her life.

“With Randall a day ahead of us, I don’t see that we have a choice.Tee!Are you alive in there?”

With that came a horrible knocking on her door. She moaned and rolled onto her back, untangling her legs from the sheets. She didn’t have to pretend to be a shiftless pilot. She felt like one from her throbbing head to her sore feet.

“Tee! You’re on duty. Rise and shine.”

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