Page 48 of Dark Space
‘It did seem to be an uncharacteristically foolish decision,’ Vesper agreed. He gave me another small smile. ‘But I’m grateful for it.’
I made my way across the cell on shaky legs until I was at Vesper’s side. He looked up at me, questioning, his eyes flaring.
I bit my lip. ‘I know you only did it before because I was sick, and you don’t have to say yes, but would you –’
He pulled me down into his arms and held me.
The Prince didn’t sleep on his dinner. He waited a few days – as far as I could tell, anyway – until I could move about without pain and getting tired, and then informed me over the hidden speaker that I wouldjoin him for dinner that night.
‘When is night?’ I said to Vesper.
‘It’s always night somewhere,’ he answered perversely.
I could tell he wasn’t happy about the dinner, and the ship landing on a deserted planet hadn’t helped his temper. Landinghadn’t made any difference to me, but Vesper didn’t like it; beingon terra– as he called it – made him cross.
Too much earth, he complained.
I like earth, I’d said.
He’d gotten an odd, pinched look when I said that, and hadn’t spoken for some time, which – for Vesper – was extremely unusual.
‘So what should I wear?’ I said playfully, trying to jerk him out of his bad mood.
His gaze lifted from his dark-matter chain. ‘Starlight,’ he purred, his eyes blazing.
I flushed. ‘Rather short on that at the moment.’ I swept a hand down my side. ‘What do you think of this delightful, hand-sewn, reclaimed uniform?’
‘I think you’d look better in Ketruscan silk, but the uniform is a close second,’ he said.
‘I think I’ll braid my hair. I wish I had a mirror.’
‘Leave it down.’
I stared at him. ‘What?’
He cleared his throat. ‘Your hair. Leave it down. Your hair, it’s like … Well, I don’t know what it’s like; I always thought that poets were a waste of stardust. But whatever it’s like, it’s lovely. Leave it down.’
I ran my hands through my hair. It badly needed a proper wash – with actual hair product, not just water and an alien version of antibacterial soap – and was possibly starting to smell. ‘Lovely?’
‘Lovely,’ he agreed.
‘Vesper. It’s oily. It’s knotty. It’s full of sweat and probably still some blood. In no universe is itlovely.’
‘Lovely,’ he said stubbornly. ‘Leave. It. Down.’
‘Bossy,’ I muttered, though I was secretly pleased by the compliment.Delicate, I was used to hearing.Fragile.Notlovely.Especially not when I’d been living in too-close quarters with the complement-giver for weeks on end with negligible privacy.
‘Will you let him claim you?’ Vesper asked, surprising me. He tilted his head back, staring at the cell’s black ceiling.
‘Do you think I’ll have a choice?’
He snorted. ‘Of course. If it was any other Roth, probably not. But the Prince? He’s a dreamer. He wants to build a better world. If you insisted on going back to Earth, he’d probably take you.’
I chewed on my lip.
I hated being confined in this cell, but I didn’t hate being away from Earth. My chest still tightened with sadness at my grandmother’s death, and I missed her, missed her presence and her lilac scent and the way that she laughed, but I didn’t miss our too-small apartment, or the constant stress that came with being her carer. I didn’t even miss Advena as much as I’d thought I would, though Ididmiss Claire and Maeve and Tessa.
Because I’d never done an adventurous thing in my entirelife, and now I was on a mother-flippingspaceship, casually hanging out with aliens.
