“Yes.”
“Torek’s student.”
“Yes.”
He studied me. The same way Kallum had, that first day. Calculating threat and worth in equal measure.
“You brought him home,” he said.
“He brought me here. I just kept him from dying on the way.”
Something shifted in his face. Not warmth. Not yet. But the sharp edge softened.
“The Regalia,” he said. “Where is it?”
“His jacket. He carried it through everything. Wouldn’t let it go.”
Rylos nodded. Released my arm.
“Medical bay is two levels up. We’ll take care of him.” He glanced past me, toward the cargo bay. “What else did you bring?”
“A wounded pig. Frangian boar. His name is Turnip.”
Rylos blinked. “Turnip.”
“Torek named him.”
“Of course he did.” He turned to one of the others. “Get the boar to Bronwen. Carefully.”
The medical baywas white and humming and full of equipment I didn’t recognize.
Kallum was on a table in the center of the room. Tubes ran into his arms. Monitors displayed readings I couldn’t interpret. A human woman worked over him, her movements precise.
Tamsin. Had to be. Kallum had said she’d picked up skills.
“Will he live?”
She looked up. Dark hair. Serious eyes. Studying me the way everyone on this ship seemed to.
“There’s something in his blood,” Tamsin said, not looking up. “Regeneration suppressant. Conclave trick. Coat their blades with it.” She adjusted something on the monitor. “That’s why he’s healing so slowly. His body’s fighting the toxin and the wound at the same time.”
“Can you fix it?”
“We can filter it out. Takes time. But yes.” She glanced at me. “He’ll be unconscious for a while. Days, probably. His body needs to catch up.”
I looked at Kallum. Still and gray and hooked up to machines. But alive. Breathing. The monitors beeped steadily, marking the rhythm of his heart.
I’d kept him alive. Through hyperspace and docking and all the chaos after. I’d kept him alive, the same way he’d kept me alive through the siege.
The same way Torek had kept us both alive, even after death.
I pulled a chair beside the bed. Sat down. Took his hand.
Outside this room, the ship hummed with life I didn’t know yet. People I’d never met. A future I couldn’t imagine.
But Kallum was here. Turnip was safe. And somewhere on this ship, Torek’s legacy was finally where it belonged.
I rested my head on the edge of the bed and closed my eyes.
