“Yes.”
“How did you get those when you’re stuck out here all alone?”
He hesitated, looking at her with uncertain eyes. Finally, he made a decision. “My parents,” he replied.
“They sent them with you?”
“Yes. A final gift to their only son.”
“But I don’t get it. Where are they now?”
He took a deep breath, his lips quivering slightly. “They are dead.”
“Oh my God. I’m so sorry. What happened?”
“They perished after I was gone. Let us please leave it at that.”
“Of course. I’m sorry, Braxxos. I truly am. Thank you for sharing that with me. I know it couldn’t have been easy.”
“Lifeisn’t easy.”
“I suppose not. But at least you had something to occupy your time. Your mind.”
“That I did.”
“And these lessons of yours. I assume they’re digital as well?”
“Yes. Interactive programs designed to educate even in the absence of a live tutor. They are some of my most treasured possessions, and I do not know who I would have become without them. They are why I left you the other night. I had to move them to an alternate hiding place farther from possible detection.”
“What’s with that, anyway? Why spread your things out like that?”
“It’s just the nature of my life. I do not need much, as you have seen, but I cannot afford to lose the few possessions I do have, and it would be far too risky to keep them all together in one place.”
Margot nodded. “Not keeping all your eggs in one basket. Smart.”
“Eggs and baskets? I don’t follow.”
“It’s another saying from back home. Don’t put everything in one place, just in case something should go wrong, and you lose it all at once. Kind of akin to what we call a bus number.” She saw the confusion on his face. “Okay, a bus is kind of like a ship, okay? But on land.”
“All right.”
“And the idea is that you don’t ever want to have all of the important people who run things in the same ship at the same time for pretty much the same reason as not putting all your eggs in one basket. If something bad happens, you lose all leadership at once and that would be catastrophic.”
“A wise saying. Many leaders would do well to heed that warning.” He smiled at her, an almost adoring grin plastered to his face. “You truly are a remarkable woman, Margot, and,despite the unfortunate manner in which we met, I am glad to have made your acquaintance.”
She slid closer to him, resting her hand on his. “The feeling’s mutual.”
The way he looked at her, the flush in his cheeks, the shiny wetness of his eyes as his emotions surged in ways he didn’t know how to process, it all made her heart break for him with such force she wished she could do something, anything, to make it better. For now, all she could do was hold him close and comfort him. And, perhaps, a little more.
She leaned in and wrapped her arms around him, her heart beating hard just as his was thundering in his chest at her touch. Margot pressed her face to his neck, savoring his warmth and the thumping artery under her lips. She gently kissed that spot, his heart leaping at the contact.
Braxxos pushed back, leaping to his feet in such a rush he banged his head on the ceiling, confusion and a little fear in his eyes.
“I—” he started to say, then turned and bolted out the door, closing it behind him firmly, leaving a very confused woman in his wake.
“Well, that was interesting,” Margot said with a sigh. “Just my luck. Of all the men in all the world, this one’s scared of girls.”
She shook it off quickly, gathering up the dishes and cleaning up. She didn’t bother going to look for him. He would come back when he was ready, and he was more than capable of taking care of himself out there.
