Page 60 of Stars in Mist

Élisa met his gaze. ‘To get Killen and me the medical help we need.’

‘Where?’

His question was harsh and insistent, driven by his angst and need to get down to the nitty-gritty.

‘To Kythnia, a moon in orbit of Katáne, on the other side of Pegasi.’

Riv flinched. ‘That’s on the opposite and forsaken end of the System.’

Élisa nodded. ‘’Tis. You haven’t seen the true badlands until you reach the outer Southern rim.’

‘Can’t you summon your people to traverse the system and fetch you?’

Élisa’s face fell into fear. ‘The trip needs to be anonymous. No one on the core planet must know of our visit to Kythnia.’

Riv pursed his lips as if contemplating the idea.

Élisa bent forward. ‘Ribau, if it helps, I’ll give you where the man you seek can be found.’

‘Where’s that?’

‘He’s on the salt pan plains due south, where the nebula has touched down on Devansi. The location that all the faithful gather to worship the mist.’

Riv pursed his lips and reclined back in his chair.Did you get that Mirage?

I did, I’ll investigate.

As he comm’d the Sable AI, Riv’s silence must have rattled Élisa because she leaned in even more, desperation in her face. ‘Look, Ribau, we’ll hire you and your ship for good tender.’

‘You’ll pay your hostage?’

She met his incredulous gaze with a narrowed one of her own. ‘I think you and I are aware you are no longer beholden to us. You can command your ship to land right this minute, and you’d be free to walk out that door without us.’

‘But I won’t?’

‘You won’t.’ The statement came from his son. ‘You’re tethered here by great emotion. You either have deep compassion for our plight, or something else compels you.’

The young man’s ability to cut through to the soul was almost too much to bear.

Riv gritted his teeth and sliced his eyes over them, deflecting Killen’s probes. ‘What exact medical aid do you need?’

Mother and son exchanged glances, and Riv suspected another linked telepathic conversation between the two before Élisa expounded. ‘His hawkstone needs to be removed before it kills him. Only the sage-medics on Kythnia can attempt this, and they live on that moon.’

Riv absorbed this information with pursed lips. ‘How do you intend to remunerate me?’

Élisa rose and stalked to a bone-sculpted safe set in the rock. She twisted the bronze dials on its surface so fast he didn’t catch the combination she used.

The bone door swung open, and she pulled out a small bag.

Striding back to the table, she placed it by his plate.

He raised a curious brow, took the bag, and untwisted its ties.

He upended the contents and poured chunks of gold, which fell to the table in soft thunks.

‘There’s plenty more where that came from,’ Killen murmured.

Riv glanced at the gold, wondering how they’d accumulated it.

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