Page 80 of Into Orbit
‘Sorry, sorry,’ Elswyth said, skidding to a stop behind us. Her cheeks were flushed green with exertion and a few strands of carefully-pinned hair had escaped an elegant twist to frame her face. Her dress was a cold-tone pearl that picked up the shine of her hair and made her eyes glow.
‘Fuck, you’re beautiful,’ I breathed.
She flushed further, like I hadn’t said the same thing a thousand times, like she hadn’t been riding my face a few hours before. ‘You are, too,’ she said shyly.
I’d borrowed a dress from Juniper and had taken some care with my makeup, scrounging ingredients with Willow’s help until we’d concocted something that approximated foundation, blush, eyeliner, and mascara. Some of the other Tirians had stared at me, but I didn’t care what they thought. I wanted extra armour for this battle.
And Elswyth liked it, which was pretty much the end of the story.
We divided into Pods, with some grumbling from Ashton about applying for a four-seater family craft. A half-hearted argument later, we were seated.
‘Breathe, Maeve,’ Elswyth reminded me.
I exhaled. ‘What if Tessa’s hurt? What if she’s –’ I choked off that thought.
‘What if she’s not?’ Elswyth replied sensibly. ‘What if she’s perfectly fine? What if she’shappy?’
‘Then I don’t have to convince your mother to do an immediate U-turn, which is preferable,’ I joked. ‘I brought it up the other day and she just saidDo you think the Tirian fleet revolves around your wishes, Maeve? But I’m pretty sure she was just annoyed that I beat her at poker.’
‘That’swhy she was in a bad mood,’ Elswyth muttered. ‘She kept going on about forgetting what the aces were. I didn’t know what she was talking about.’
My anxiety skyrocketed as the Pod’s automatic launch sequence began. I hadn’t been in space since my first trip, and my hands dug into the chair beneath me as we shot from the peacekeeping ship and into the black, then began to break atmosphere.
‘And breatheout, Maeve,’ Elswyth said sternly.
‘You’re spending too much time with Willow. You’ve even got the tones perfect.’
She gave a visible shiver, blossoms shifting in her hair. ‘He was ordering Ash around the other morning while you were sparring with Cedar. It’s …nice, isn’t it? Listening to him?’
I burst out laughing. ‘Niceis not the word I’d use. But yes.’ My core clenched in remembrance of the last time he’d orderedmeabout. ‘Nice.Verynice.’
She was silent for a moment. ‘I can’t believe how lucky I am. How lucky I was to find you.’
Warmth spread through my chest; I rubbed my hand over my heart. ‘I’m so grateful you did,’ I whispered.
A vine of arcadia blossoms climbed over Elswyth’s shoulder and down to my hands, twining around my wrists.
‘Breathe, Maeve.’
‘Breathing,’ I said.
Elswyth reached up to press a light above her head. ‘We’ll land in a moment. Do you remember the itinerary?’
‘Welcome, food, Roth discussion, food, break, food, sleep,’ I recited. ‘A few days of general schmoozing, lots of eating, discussing why the Roth are bad, and trying to find Tessa.’
‘And are you ready for it?’
‘No,’ I said honestly. ‘What if she’s not here? What if I never find her? What if Ido, and I have to say goodbye forever?’
‘I don’t know,’ Elswyth said after a moment. ‘But we’ll be here for you, no matter what.’
I stroked one of the arcadia blossoms on my wrist. ‘I know you will. And I love you for it.’
The Pod made a whirring noise as it lowered towards the ground.
‘In and out, in and out,’ Elswyth reminded me.
I squeaked as we landed on the designated pad and the Pod roof slid back.
