Epilogue
MARDOK
“Idon’t feel any different,” I tell Farli as we lie in our furs the next night. We are out in the open, our sleeping pallet piled close to the others. There is no fire, because all of the hunters who came with us are sa-khui and the symbiont keeps them warm.
And for the first time since arriving on this planet, I’m not cold. It’s keffing amazing. The snow doesn’t bother me. It just feels like damp powder, not icy hell. I curl up with Farli under the furs and pull her against me, and she doesn’t feel hot to the touch, just pleasant.
“I like your eyes much better this way,” she tells me, snuggling up to my chest. “Such a nice blue. Not dead like before.”
“Dead?” I say with a laugh. “Really?”
“Very dark and no spark of life in them,” she says with a nod. Her fingers trail up and down my chest. “And I am glad you have a khui.”
I am, too. I thought I would feel strange, but I don’t. I don’tfeel much of anything, except for the steady drumming song in my chest that started the moment I woke up and looked at Farli. Resonance. I expected it to fill me with a surge of emotion for her.
I didn’t expect for it to make my cock stand at attention constantly. I guess it’s the symbiont getting me ready to make babies with her. I guess we didn’t try hard enough last night. I grin and pull her closer. I’m willing to give it as many tries as we need. Not right now, of course. Not with the others sleeping close nearby. Plenty of time for that when we return to the village and her cozy little house.
I gaze up at the stars overhead, my mate tucked against my shoulder. Somewhere up there,The Tranquil Ladyis soaring away from this planet and toward her shipping destination. My seat is empty. Bron Mardok Vendasi will be listed as missing in space. My flight-suit has been sent out the air-lock by now, and the others will do their best to cover my trail and make it seem like I’m just…gone. No one will come looking for me. Accidents happen in space all the time, and someone like me with a sad history? It wouldn’t be too much to assume that I just went out the airlock while the others were sleeping.
I watched the ship leave earlier, during the hunt. The chaos of the moment and the chase of the enormous, dangerous creature meant that I didn’t have time to focus on it leaving. There was no time to be anxious. No time for my mind to fray at the edges and think back to those awful days on Uzocar. No time to feel like I was left behind, because Farli was at my side, encouraging me to shove my spear—however awkwardly—into the flanks of the sa-kohtsk as it tumbled to the ground.
It was the first kill I participated on, and I felt a sense of pride when the others slapped my back in approval. Thenthere was no time to focus on anything except the khui itself, and receiving it. The moment the glowing filament touched my skin, I blacked out. I woke up later, warm and strangely content, and purring to Farli.
Of course, now that I have time to stare up at the sky and panic at the thought of being stranded here on Kopan VI forever? I’m oddly calm. The worst has happened, and I’m fine with it. I’m not on an enemy planet. I’m not forgotten. I’m here by choice. I’ve got an entire village of people who are warm and friendly and giving. I’ve got an ancient wreck of a ship to tinker with. Most of all, I have the woman I love at my side.
With her, I’m never going to be alone again.
