Page 56 of Scars & Starlight
“I don’t care,” he says empathetically. “But there is a complication now.”
I raise an eyebrow. “What kind of complication?”
“Well,” he says with a wince. “You killed her only brother a few moonfalls ago. And she will be at the palace with my family. I don’t know what her reaction to you will be.”
“Oh,” I gasp.
Oh… fuck.
28
KAIREN
Tara’s round, brown eyes are filled with wonder as she gazes at the planet the humans call Jupiter. It’s the closest one to where this planetary system’s QEA particle is currently positioned, and I did promise her detours so she could see more of the universe. This is only the beginning of the experiences I have to give her.
We spent the last rotation making love or playing Drazhani cubes and Nerai rings, sometimes simply looking at the blackness of space and Tara’s galaxy bisecting it, talking about our pasts and our future together. I often rested my hand on her flat stomach, waiting for my nanites to tell me that conception had been achieved, though I know that will take more rotations than have passed since she became fertile. We will be on the other side of the universe when that occurs.
“You know,” Tara hums from where her face is pressed against the viewing pane. “Humans used to be obsessed with finding alien life. We looked for it everywhere we could. And we used to think we might find it in the oceans of one of this planet’s moons.” She rolls her head so her forehead stays against the pane, but hereyes shift to me. “Bet if we’d known the Ghorvek were out there to be found, we’d have been burning the scientists looking for alien life on a stake like we did in the Middle Ages.”
I frown at her. “You were burning the people bringing progress and new discoveries? No wonder you haven’t employed antimatter propulsion yet.”
She snorts and looks back outside. “We did many horrendous things in the name of religion. Do Avaren not worship any gods?”
Even though she can’t see me, I shake my head. “Primitive Avaren worshipped our sun, Vireon, and our moons, especially the largest one, Seris. They brought light and warmth to the planet, and we eventually learned to harvest both.” I check our course and bring us back on the right path. “We still invoke them in curses and exclamations, though we now know there is nothing mystical about them.”
“I bet humans were demystified about a lot of things these last four years,” she mutters, slowly pulling away from the pane as we shift away from the gas giant’s orbit. She approaches me and sits on my lap, her arms entwining behind my neck. “How long until we poof out of here and poof back into existence somewhere else?”
The corner of my lips twitch at her description of QEA travel, though I hear the worry underneath the words, too. “Just a couple of marks, my love.”
She looks down at her belly. “And our… sprout will be okay?”
I hide my face in her neck and choke down my tears. The baby isn’t even there yet, and she already loves it and worries for it. I nuzzle against her, taking deep breaths of her warm scent. I wonder if she’ll smell any different once she’s pregnant.
Finally, my throat relaxes enough to speak. “Our little podling will be just fine. Everything will transcribe with exact fidelity.”
“Good, good,” she says with barely hidden relief. Then she tenses again. “Think we’ll run into any Ghorvek at the particle thing? You all use it to travel, right?”
“We passed a few Ghorvek destroyers already, but at suchdistances, the Talon would have been indistinguishable from space debris,” I explain.
“How come they haven’t tried to shoot the Sovereign down?” she asks next. “They can’t miss it.”
I grin into her neck before pulling back so I can look at her. “They tried. Don’t worry about the Sovereign. It will take more than a few paltry destroyers to break its shields.”
She smirks. “If you say so, Commander.”
“I say so,” I agree, then take her mouth with mine, unable to resist any longer when her soft lips are this close. I kiss her long and thoroughly, enjoying every hitch of breath, every shiver against me. I don’t think I could ever get bored of kissing my beautiful match. When the Talon beeps, warning about another Ghorvek patrol in the distance, I’m forced to pull back so I can adjust our bearing once more.
“Hey, Kairen?”
My lips stretch into a grin, already anticipating whatever hilarity will come out of her mouth next. “Yes, Tara?”
“You taught me a bunch of games to play, but do Avaren not do TV?”
TV?
TELEVISION: A PRIMITIVE FLAT-SCREEN DEVICE USED BY HUMANS TO OBSERVE PRE-RECORDED OR LIVE VISUAL MATERIAL FOR ENTERTAINMENT, EDUCATION, OR IDLE TIME CONSUMPTION.
“You mean visual media for entertainment, Princess?”
