Page 67 of Keeping Freya
“I know. I also know I have been neglectful, and I want to know. You gave me so much… you gave me back my control, the way I see myself. You helped me become a better version of myself while I was so angry. Just by caring for me. So the least I can do is repay you for that.”
I take her hand and kiss her fingers before intertwining our hands, pulling strength from her touch.
“There is a night that feels like the darkest night of my existence. It is the night the Sternotheri came and destroyed our planet. We just had a big showdown in space and beat them with our allies' help. We were celebrating, it was a big win, because they attacked us with all their force.
However, they came back in the depths of night with some sort of weapon. We still do not know precisely how they did it, but they destroyed our planet’s core. After that, it was chaos. I was able to save my crew, D’Var’s mother, and my brother, and as many of our citizens who were close to us at that moment. But almost everybody lost everything. O’Rec lost his entire family, which made him king overnight.
I managed to get us out of the chaos that followed the destruction, and we made sure as many of our people as possible were hidden by allies.
For a while, we were adrift. We believe there was a special spark in our planet’s core that bound us together. Coming to terms with living without that spark was hard, and in the end—unnecessary. A young crew came upon a nebula, barely noticeable because of an enormous void surrounding it. And there, in that nebula, they found the spark.
It took some time, but we managed to build a space station in that nebula. It starts as a connection of many different ships, but our engineers made it into a beautiful construction we call the Ring, because of its round shape and open center.”
“You’re taking me there?”
“Yes.”
“Thank you,” she whispers. “For not dumping me on Novarron.”
I huff. “I will not leave you with the little time we have.”
She stays silent. “T’Rak? Do you know if they’ve already started looking for Earth?”
“I do not know. But knowing O’Rec, he immediately gave the order. He is honorable like that.”
It feels as if there is nothing left to say after this conversation, and we stay silent.
“I’m sorry about your planet,” she finally whispers, and I squeeze her tight.
“Captain? We are here,”D’Var tells me through our bond. I thought I was getting homesick from telling our story to my mate, but apparently, the spark was calling me home.
“We should get dressed, we have arrived.”
“How do you know?”
“O’Rec just told me.”
She gives me a funny look. “What am I missing? Told you how?”
“I did not tell you about the bond?”
“Just the bond with mates? But I reckon O’Rec is not your mate?”
I laugh as I rise and get my clothes. “Nope, a crew of Warriors can create a mental bond, much like a bond between a Warrior and his Zarra. When we are close, we can communicate with each other through that link.”
“Like, in your head.”
I nod in confirmation.
She pulls her shirt over her head. “Is that something we can have?”
This is painful for me because, in theory, we should have a full mating bond, but something is blocking our connection.
“We should have.”
She hums but does not continue on the topic, which is fine with me. Once dressed, we move to command, and I sit in my chair, pulling her into my lap.
“Where is that home of yours?” she wonders, and I chuckle.
