Page 122 of The Explorer
I leaned my weight on the contents of the bag and sighed. “I wanted to give her a last hug and now I won’t see her until December.”
“We’ll tell her when she gets back, but I think she was pleased to do it. She’s been needing a purpose for a while,” Kya touched her large curly mane before picking up my perfume from the bed and handing it to me. “Things haven’t been easy for Sparrow. Seeing her dream crushed when you two got rejected for the firefighter school broke her spirit a little. And with you being gone, she’s been a bit lost.”
I felt a sting in my heart. My friend had told me some of her struggles, but it was typical of her to put on a brave mask and power through. “I’m sorry to hear that. Sparrow deserves to be happy.”
“She’s been smiling more than usual with Banni. He’s good at making her laugh,” Kya said. “It’s a shame that he doesn’t live here.”
A warning flag waved in my mind. If Banni agreed to come and live here for a while to train the Explorers, I would need to warn Sparrow against falling in love with him. The last thing I wanted was for him to leave my friend with a broken heart.
Placing the last things in my bag, I closed it and dipped my head to signal I was ready.
Christina moved from the window to me and brushed a hand over my hair. “Sparrow won’t be alone in counting the months until we have you and Indiana safely back again.”
“I’m sorry for taking your son away for this long.”
Her smile was nothing but a tiny twitch of her lips. “It’s making me appreciate every minute with my family, and that’s a good thing.”
Indiana and I held hands when we left Victoria’s Island. We couldn’t talk about it with the French being in the drone, but I suspected he was as worried about Banni as I was.
Had Banni managed to get in contact with Val and tell him to pick him up somewhere?
Did their telepathic connection even work across distances that far or would Banni be stuck in the middle of nowhere? Images of wolves came to mind and I didn’t like that he would be without his usual equipment. I should text Sparrow and ask her to stay with him until Val got there.
But what if Freya was right and Banni could be tracked because of his brain implant? Did that mean there was a log on his movements and if so, would the officials know that he’d broken the law by leaving Old Europe?
I worried about the consequences to him and to Indiana and me. Would it destroy what little trust there was between Old Europe and the Northlands?
I sent a quick message to Sparrow.
Envious of Indiana, who managed to nap as we flew, I placed my head on his shoulder and closed my eyes. Even though my worries kept me awake it was better than talking with the French delegation. After a full week in their company, I was at my limit.
It had been almost eight months since we arrived in Old Europe and although I still didn’t speak French well enough to have fluent conversations, I could understand most of what they were saying.
After talking about all the things that they missed at home and how they wished they could have brought the beach with them, the conversation shifted to the victory of returning with an offer of sixty-seven Explorers from the Northlands. They spoke about strategies to bypass the prime minister and let the parliament accept.
“It would be sad if Moreau’s pride squashed this opportunity,” Simon said.
With my eyes closed, I couldn’t see them, but I knew their voices and had no problem distinguishing one from the other.
Celeste was quick to add, “Victor and Isaac, you two are Moreau’s closest advisors, can’t you massage his ego and make him love the idea?”
“Isaac is better at that sort of thing. Lately, I lose my patience with Moreau.”
“Fine, Victor, but at least offer your support if he asks for your opinion.”
“Hmm, I still have a bad feeling about bringing more Northlanders to Old Europe. It’s one thing to accept those two breaking the law and entering a relationship, but what will happen when an Nman falls in love with a woman?”
“Victor, lower your voice. Are we even sure they’re sleeping?” Celeste warned.
I felt Simon lean closer to me whispering my name.
“Aubri?”
I didn’t move a muscle and kept breathing slowly.
“Yeah, they’re out,” he concluded before changing back to the subject of Northlander Explorers.
“Worst case, several of them fall in love with the same woman. They could start fighting among themselves.”
