* * *
A poundingknock rattled the cabin door, yanking Vivienne from the depths of a dreamless sleep. Disoriented, she blinked against the dim glow filtering through the porthole. For a brief, blissful moment, she expected to see the familiar beams of her bedroom ceiling. Then the rocking motion beneath her and the endless stretch of ocean beyond the glass ripped her back to reality.
She wasn’t home. She was on a ship. And someone was obnoxiously hammering on her door.
“Miss Banner.” Commander Thorne’s voice pushed through the wood.
Vivienne groaned and dragged a hand down her face.Gods, what does he want now?
“Yes?” Her voice came out hoarse, heavy with exhaustion.
“You are to report for your night shift.”
She sat up so fast her head spun.Night shift? Was swabbing the deck and washing half the kingdom’s dishes not punishment enough?Now she wasn’t even allowed to sleep?
Her muscles screamed objections as she swung her legs over the bunk, the wooden floor unforgiving beneath her bare feet.
“Miss Banner,” Thorne’s measured voice pressed on, “please acknowledge the order.”
Vivienne’s fingers curled into her blanket, her jaw tightening. She snapped the word like a dry twig. “Acknowledged.”
She scrubbed the sleep from her eyes, yanked open the door, and launched into her complaint mid-breath. “Was all the swabbing and dishwashing insufficient, Commander?—”
But it wasn’t Thorne waiting in the dimly lit corridor.
Cirrus leaned against the wall outside her door, his lazy smile already in place.
Vivienne froze, suddenly hyper aware of how disheveled she must look. Her tangled hair, wrinkled clothes, and the lingering haze of sleep clung to her. She ran her tongue along her front teeth, smoothing her shirt as she straightened her spine.
“I thought the commander was out here,” she said, half-wishing she could slam the door and reset the whole interaction.
“Oh, he was.” Cirrus’ smile deepened as he crossed his arms, biceps flexing slightly beneath his loose linen shirt. “But I remembered how cross you can be when someone wakes you up and figured I’d spare him the tongue-lashing.”
His ice-blue eyes glinted with familiarity, peeling her apart layer by layer, as if nothing had changed between them. As if they hadn’t spent years apart.
She hated it.
“How generous of you,” she muttered, running a hand over her snarled hair.
Cirrus extended a broad hand, his grin mocking. “Ready for your first night shift?”
Vivienne glued her arms to her sides, meeting his unwavering gaze with steely defiance. “Let’s get this over with.”
He raised his eyebrows, noting the rejection of his outstretched hand, but said nothing.
Vivienne trailed after Cirrus, her boots barely making a sound against the wooden planks of the hall. When they emerged onto the main deck, the cool night air wrapped around her, a welcome guest.
She lifted her chin, blinking hard to clear the sleep from her vision and stopped dead in her tracks.
Her breath sputtered.
Above them, the sky unfurled in a vast, glittering tapestry. Stars spilled across the heavens in numbers she had never imagined, each one a diamond shimmering against the velvety black. The constellations she had only read about in books reached across the sky, unveiled in their full, breathtaking glory.
The sunset had been stunning, but this? This was something else entirely.
Awe tightened her throat as her lips parted, searching for words she couldn’t find.
Cirrus watched her, a crooked grin on his lips. "Do my eyes deceive me? Is Vivienne Banner speechless?"
