Page 70 of Into Orbit
I squeezed her shoulder. ‘What the fuck is the thing on the chair?’
She sniffed again. ‘It’s a control panel from a Roth dignitary ship.’
‘Where did it come from?’
‘Ashton had it in his Pod.’
‘He stole a control panel? Why? What the fuck are we supposed to do with that?’
‘It would have disabled the ship’s systems,’ Cedar called softly from the lab. ‘Removed the relevant system brain, as it were.’
I stared at Elswyth. ‘The dickhead messed up their systems and brought home a fuckingtrophy? Why? What the motherfucking …’ I blinked as I realised. ‘Oh, if he doesn’t die,I will kill him all over again. I shouldn’t have told him that bloody story.He brought back a fucking dragon’s head.’
Elswyth frowned. ‘Story? Dragon …’ Her eyes went wide as she realised. ‘Oh, Ashton. You gods-damnedfool.’
I laughed. ‘That fucker. Only Ashton would complete his quest but come back too injured to enjoy the spoils. It’s poetic irony, or some shit.’ I sobered. ‘Anna would know.’
‘Are we the spoils in that metaphor?’ Elswyth took up his hand, lacing her fingers through his.
‘I think we are,’ I answered, watching him closely, but Ashton didn’t stir.
A few moments later, Elswyth began to sing. She started off soft, a wordless, mournful lullaby that made me shiver and my skin break out in gooseflesh. The melody developed slowly, adding some words here and there until it morphed into something I recognised – the song she’d sung to the Forest.
Her voice rose, the notes so pure and lovely that my eyes began to prick with tears. I crossed my arms over my chest as her hair began to glow.
Then Ashton’s began to glow, too.
He stirred on the bed, his skin lighting from within. Elswyth’s voice faltered for a moment as she realised what was happening, then she continued her song, strengthening her voice until the notes filled the room. Cedar came to stand in the doorway, mouth hanging open; they rubbed their hands up and down their bare arms, shivering. Their hair began to glow, too, but softer than Ashton’s.
Elswyth’s song was for him, after all.
‘Green gods,’ Cedar whispered. ‘Elya. I’ve never seen it like this before.’ Cedar looked down at their hands wonderingly, then clasped them together, almost in prayer, and lifted their eyes to fix on Elswyth. ‘Lady,’ they said reverently.
Ashton gave a low, deep groan.
The proximity alarm began to sound. Cedar frowned, startled out of their wonder, then went to check the infirmary’s main screen.
I followed them. ‘What is it?’
‘Fuck,’ Cedar said. ‘It’s the stolen Pod.’
I felt a sense of deja vu as the Pod coasted into the hangar. Again, the cavernous space was crowded; again, Elswyth looked to be on the verge of tears; and again, I was feeling nervous, which put me in a punch-first-ask-questions-later kind of mood. Ashton hadn’t woken up at the sound of the alarm, so we’d left him there after Elswyth fussed over his blankets.
She clung to my arm as the Pod settled down to a soft landing, guided by the automatic flight system, her fingers tightening around my bicep.
I kissed her cheek and willed myself to be calm.
The Pod slid back, and the engineers surged forward to help. A fair head emerged, and moss-green eyes sought mine from across the hangar, from through the crowd of Tirians.
Willow’s voice was quiet, but its echo sent a shiver down my spine. ‘Maeve.’
Before I knew what I was doing, I’d broken away from Elswyth and was sprinting across the smooth hangar floor. I wasn’t thinking, but my arms knew what to do, hooking themselves around his neck. My lips were sure, seeking his for a desperate, relieved kiss, a kiss he returned hungrily, his hand moving to cup the back of my head in the kind of tender, loving touch I hadn’t experienced very often but had recently realised that I fuckinglivedfor.
‘Maeve,’ Willow said again breathlessly as I broke away. He rested his forehead against mine and Imelted, my legs trembling beneath me when it washimwho’d just returned home from being violently kidnapped. ‘Maeve.’
I laughed shakily. ‘Fuck, I’m glad you’re back.’
‘Is the Lady well?’ he said anxiously. ‘She looks like she’s been crying.’
