Page 68 of Keeping Freya
“Patience, my treasure.”
D’Var takes us out of hyperdrive, and when the world slows down, we see the nebula in front of us. The beauty takes my breath away, like it always does. The void stretches out as far as I can see. The blackness is entirely devoid of any color. And in front of that swirls the nebula in vibrant pink, purple, and electric blue. I look at my mate, and she is gasping at the sight in front of us.
“It’s incredible,” she whispers, a tear leaking from her eye.
I kiss her cheek. “It is.”
“Still gives me goosebumps every time,” L’Ren chimes in.
I take control and make my way through the clouds, the bond pulses, intensified by the spark. “Here we are,” I whisper in Fr’Ya’s ear when the Ring appears.
“Now I understand why you call it that way. It IS a ring. A space ring.” She chuckles, and I focus on docking the ship, leaving her to her wonders.
“Hold on tight,” I instruct everybody, and with a slight shock, I dock the ship.
After docking, we make our way towards the back of the ship. For safety measures, we lock the cats inside the Cargo Bay.
“We will be back for them later, right?” She looks at me with pleading eyes, and I can only nod.
Silently, we wait for the airlock to open so we can safely enter the ring. The ramp opens, and I spot the people waiting for us. There is, of course, Kepti, who is being hugged by L’Ren the minute they reach each other. M’Ran is waiting forO’Rec, his most loyal advisor and the one who takes care of the Ring when we are away. O’Rec and Marra have quite the following; they are intensely popular as King and Queen, and to my surprise, half the station has come to welcome them home.
“Well, was your mission successful?” M’Ran asks, wobbling from one foot to another.
O’Rec holds up his hand, and everybody falls quiet. “The High Commander of the Sternotheri is dead.” Silence falls, and everybody stares at us. “Though it makes us and our future a whole lot safer, a killing mission is never a celebration, no matter who we killed. But on the other hand, we also found a colony of Sternotheri, consisting of only females and children. They had broken with the ways of the High Commander, and I have promised them to find them a haven, somewhere they can raise their children in peace. And maybe one day, we can build something, though for now we focus on rebuilding ourselves now that our biggest threat is eliminated.”
Murmurs follow his words, and people look shocked.
“Arracate!” O’Rec booms. “We are NOT a vindictive people. We have peace and honor in our hearts. Justice is what we serve, and sometimes justice is helping people. This is what we do.”
One of the younger warriors steps forward. He places his fist across his heart and lifts his chin. “TO OUR KING!” he shouts out.
“TO OUR KING,” the crows echoes and I join them in their celebration.
The people flock to O’Rec and Marra and I just stand there, with nobody waiting for me. Suddenly, the loss hits me hard, and I miss T’Kar and his easy smile. He was always the light-hearted one, whereas I tend to see the worst in a situation.
Fr’Ya intertwines our fingers and holds on to my arm. She kisses my bicep. “I’m sorry, T’Rak. You must miss him very much.”
“I do.” No sense in denying, not with my mate.
She pulls at me and moves her hands to my face. “It will be better, one day.”
“One day,” I mumble. Something passes between us, but it is gone soon, and she steps away.
“T’Rak, Fr’Ya! Join us for lunch?” D’Var calls out, and glad for the distraction, I accept.
CHAPTER 40
Freya
We follow D’Var’s mother, who is a delight, through a broad and open tunnel slash hallway. It is beautiful, and I cannot get over the way this station is engineered. The gravity here somehow makes you feel like you’re always walking straight while you should be going up or down. The houses are located in some sort of hubs, connected by tubes, which have businesses or just open space where children play. Everybody seems happy, and a lot of people come to greet us.
Lunch is amazing. Kepti has a small but very lovely home, and she cooks up a storm. I swear I haven’t eaten this well since I woke up in space, and she beams when I tell her. She talks about cooking and how much she loves that Lauren shares her interest, and when she begins talking about her garden, she doesn’t stop.
We follow her gladly after we’ve eaten, and it feels like I stepped into a medieval fairytale. The square, which houses the garden, looks like an old Victorian London park, complete with iron gates and overgrown stone. The garden,which is as big as a park, has its own climate control, and I marvel at the wonders.
“Do you think you can house two jungle cats here?” I wonder out loud, and Kepti stops and beams at me.
“Cats?!”
